-Caveat Lector- http://truthout.org/docs_02/022203B.htm
Complications on U.S. Road to War By Reuters Friday 21 February 2003 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - On the verge of war in Iraq, the Bush administration finds its goals complicated by its own uncompromising approach as it builds a legacy that could do long-term damage to NATO, the United Nations and U.S. leadership, diplomats and analysts say. Such criticism, made in the heat of rhetorical struggle over Iraq policy and vigorously rejected by administration officials, could well be revised if war against Baghdad is quick and reasonably successful. But as it works to maximize world support in the countdown to military action against Saddam Hussein and to isolate North Korea, the United States finds itself nearly as much on the defensive as the ``axis of evil'' regimes it seeks to curtail. Tensions between the United States and two of its oldest allies -- France and Germany -- were on display at a European security conference in early February, then exploded in a NATO dispute over defending alliance member Turkey and at a U.N. Security Council meeting on Iraq. At the United Nations, council members took the extraordinary step of applauding French and Russian demands to slow the rush to war while comments by Secretary of State Colin Powell, who more than any U.S. official pursued a diplomatic solution, were met with stony silence. Later, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin fumed during a closed-door meeting with Powell that the United States was trying to divide Europe as France and Germany sought to unify the continent. Meanwhile, anti-war demonstrations around the world last weekend drew millions of people in some of the largest protests since the Vietnam War. PASSION STOKED ``There's no question that a succession of diplomatic moves by (President George W.) Bush, including (opposition to) the Kyoto protocol, the International Criminal Court, the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and other similar defections from multilateralism, have created the backdrop for this standoff on Iraq,'' said European expert Charles Kupchan. ``Does that mean if these other events hadn't come first there would be unity on the Security Council? I wouldn't go that far. But it helps to explain the passionate nature of the debate and the widespread protests that have been sweeping Europe. Anti-Americanism has been on a steady rise since Bush took office. It's not just about Iraq,'' said Kupchan of the Council on Foreign Relations. Even before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Bush sought to reassert American leadership and power in many spheres, often fomenting resentments in the process by pursuing what critics view as a unilateral agenda with heavy-handed tactics. On such issues as the global warming treaty known as Kyoto, the International Criminal Court and the ABM Treaty, U.S. officials declared their position repeatedly, brooking no compromise, until opponents were either persuaded or worn down. Bush also asserted a willingness to wage preventive wars, reinforcing an image of America as too quick to use force. The president's reluctant decision to seek U.N. Security Council support for a tough line on Iraq was an effort to win over critics but many believed Bush and his team, keen to finish the job left undone in the 1991 Gulf War, were not serious about a diplomatic solution. RISING TENSIONS In recent weeks, tensions have risen as NATO allies France and Germany dug in their heels against military action against Iraq, Turkey bargained hard for more aid in exchange for U.S. basing rights and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld rankled Paris and Berlin by dismissing them as ``Old Europe.'' ``I think you can definitely argue the Bush people may have rubbed a little salt in the wounds and the rhetoric tended to exaggerate rather than diminish the differences,'' said Walter Russell Mead, also of the Council on Foreign Relations. But the idea of Europe ``being increasingly unhappy with American leadership while the U.S. feels its leadership is more needed than ever after Sept. 11 -- that's something that's there. It doesn't matter who was president,'' he said. U.S.-European consensus on Iraq is still possible but even if America goes to war without U.N. approval, transatlantic ties will survive, as in previous upheavals, he added. NATO Secretary-General George Robertson said the dispute over whether to give Turkey equipment to defend itself against Iraq showed alliance disarray but was not a mortal blow. Kupchan was more pessimistic, doubting NATO would survive the crisis and warning that Washington's failure to win U.N. support for military action would be a ``historical turning point that would ... deal a powerful blow to the U.N.,the West as a coherent political entity ... and risk the United States' international political legitimacy.'' (In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.) <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! 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