NATO CRISIS OVER US-EUROPE RIFT
Feb 10 2003
By Naveed Raja
NATO was facing crisis today as a new row broke out between America and European members over policy on Iraq.
Washington reacted furiously as France, Germany and Belgium blocked a NATO proposal to bolster Turkey's defences in case war breaks out in the Middle East.
The three countries argued deploying surveillance planes and Patriot missiles would make conflict seem inevitable and scupper diplomatic moves for peace.
NATO decisions require the broad agreement of all 19 member states, each of which has a veto.
Today US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld branded the decision of France, Germany and Belgium to use their veto a "disgrace".
He stormed: "It's truly shameful. Turkey is an ally. An ally that is risking everything. How can you refuse it help?".
French Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie hit back: "If Turkey was really under threat, France would be one of the first at its side. Today we don't feel that threat is there."
Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel added: "It would signify that we have already entered into the logic of war, that any chance, any initiative to still resolve the conflict in a peaceful way was gone."
Turkey, which shares a 200-mile border with Northern Iraq, responded by calling an emergency NATO meeting. It invoked NATO Article 4, used whenever a member state's "territorial integrity, political independence or security is threatened".
The row could have huge implications for the future of NATO, an alliance formed to help maintain peace after World War Two.
America's ambassador to NATO, Nicholas Burns, said the organisation was facing a "crisis of credibility".
And Secretary-General George Robertson said: "I am not seeking today to minimise the seriousness of the situation. It is serious."
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