Pro-war? Italy begs to differ
A Bush spokesman's remarks aren't quite true, Italians say.
By Ken Dilanian
Inquirer Staff Writer
ROME - When the White House named Italy this week as a European country that could be counted on to support a U.S.-led war with Iraq, it came as a surprise to an important group of people.
The Italians.
Thursday's suggestion by President Bush's spokesman that Italy would join the United States in war, even in the absence of a U.N. agreement, was front-page news here yesterday, in part because it seemed to contradict Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's long-standing position that the United Nations must first agree to military intervention in Iraq.
"I was a little surprised, because we have strong solidarity with the United States," said Sen. Domenico Contestabile, a key lawmaker on defense matters and a member of Berlusconi's party. "On this issue the Italian prime minister has said more than once that we are waiting for input from the United Nations."
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer seemed to be speaking off the cuff when he cited Italy during his daily news briefing, responding to questions about the opposition to war by France and Germany.
He inadvertently put a domestic spotlight on Berlusconi, who has been walking a careful line in recent months, trying to balance his government's pro-U.S. inclinations against the deep doubts held by most Italians about the necessity of military action. A cartoon on the front page of Corriere Della Sera, Italy's most respected daily newspaper, featured Bush as a cowboy gunslinger, with a tiny Berlusconi peeking out of one of his holsters.
Berlusconi, a conservative media magnate, has been critical of Iraq, and members of his government have met in recent weeks with U.S. defense officials amid speculation that they were discussing military cooperation.
But the prime minister has repeatedly called for U.N. consensus on military action, mindful of the fact that a majority of Italians do not support war without U.N. approval. Indeed, the Italian public appears to be no more convinced than the French or the Germans that war with Iraq is justified.
Asked about Fleischer's sentiments yesterday, Berlusconi ducked.
"There has been no call to war for Italy," Berlusconi said. "At this point a split between the United States and the European Union must at all costs be avoided, for it would be a calamity."
Gavino Angius, Senate whip for the largest opposition party, pounced on the White House declaration.
"Neither the Italian government nor the Italian parliament had made a decision in this matter, but we hear from Fleischer this choice has already been made," he said. "We have a lot of questions. We cannot see the link between the fight against terrorism and the fight against the regime of Saddam Hussein. We have seen no evidence of the existence of weapons of mass destruction."
Many Italians seem to share that view.
"Are we crazy, or what?" asked Mario Galloppa, a doorman at an apartment building in the posh Parioli section. "That's all we need, a war. They say Iraq has these weapons. But do they have them? We haven't seen them."
The consensus among military experts is that if Italy does participate in a U.S.-led coalition, it will do so in a very limited fashion, perhaps only allowing the use of its bases and airspace.
Bush has asked Italy to allow military operations to be staged from American bases here, said Fabrizio Luciolli, head of NATO's Atlantic Committee in Italy.
If Italian troops are involved, it will be only after a victory in Iraq, "for reconstruction or peacekeeping," he said.
Italy has about 200,000 people in its armed forces, 10,000 of whom are stationed abroad, mainly in peacekeeping roles in the Balkans. Recently, 1,000 specially trained alpine troops were dispatched to hunt for al-Qaeda fugitives in Afghanistan, the first ground-force combat deployment by Italians since World War II.
"Of course there are a few things we could do similar to those we have done in the past, such as naval minesweeping, or possibly sending a few fighter bombers," said Stefano Silvestri, a former Italian defense official who heads the Italian Institute of International Affairs, a think tank. "But it would be very modest. It is very difficult at this moment to integrate Italian ground forces with American forces, because of technical reasons, language barriers, and things like that. There would be a high risk of friendly fire."
When Italy participated in the U.S.-led coalition that fought the Persian Gulf war in 1991, it got off to a rough start. Of eight Italian Tornado bombers dispatched in the early stages, one aborted because of mechanical problems, six turned back because of refueling difficulties, and the one pilot who tried to complete his mission was shot down and captured, according to the book Crusade: The Untold Story of the Persian Gulf War.
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Contact staff writer Ken Dilanian at 215-854-2405 or kdilanian@phillynews.com. philly.com |
