MASSIVE OPPOSITION TO THE MADNESS OF KING GEORGE --UK, 77% Oppose Assualt Without UN
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UK, 77% Oppose Assualt Without UN
By Reuters
Sunday 12 January 2003
LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair is set to insist on Monday that he has a ``clear
strategy'' for tackling Iraq amid growing unease within his own party and the public over the possibility of a
war without U.N. backing.
A YouGov poll for the ITV network published on Monday showed that 53 percent of Britons would back a
U.N.-sanctioned attack on Iraq but only 13 percent would support action by the U.S. and Britain alone.
The poll comes a day after International Development Secretary Clare Short said London should not join
a unilateral U.S. attack on Iraq and that it was Britain's duty to restrain Washington.
In his monthly televised press conference later on Monday, Blair is expected to seek to calm unease by
spelling out his belief in the United Nations disarmament process.
``Whether we look at Iraq or the fight against terrorism or tackling crime in the UK, the prime minister
will set out that we have a clear strategy on these areas,'' a Downing Street spokeswoman told Reuters.
``It's important people remember that. He will restate that where we are on Iraq is the right thing to be
doing.''
Britain, which dispatched its flagship aircraft carrier Ark Royal to the Gulf on Saturday ahead of naval
exercises in the Far East, has backed President Bush's tough calls for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to
disarm.
But Blair softened his rhetoric last week, saying the U.N. inspectors currently scouring Iraq for signs of
weapons of mass destruction should be given time and space to do their job.
Short's comments took on added significance when sources said Blair would meet President Bush after
a January 27 report by U.N. inspectors on Iraqi compliance with weapons searches.
British newspapers said the meeting could turn into a council of war if Baghdad failed to satisfy U.N.
teams on questions about its arms progress.
``I think all the people of Britain have a duty to keep our country firmly on the U.N. route, so that we
stop the U.S. maybe going to war too early, and keep the world united,'' Short, one of the most dovish
member of Blair's Labor cabinet, told Britain's ITV network.
Blair and Bush are the chief prosecutors in the case against Iraq, saying they have intelligence that
Baghdad possesses banned weapons and threatening war unless he comes clean.
But for many countries, particularly in the Muslim world, the jury is out until clear proof is produced that
Baghdad has biological, chemical or nuclear weapons.
Blair's softened stance drew condemnation from the main opposition Conservative Party, with leader Iain
Duncan Smith accusing him of ``wobbling'' and failing to convince Britons of the need for British
involvement. |
