The New York Times
Bush Ultimatum Hardens Some Positions, and Blurs Others
By ALAN COWELL
LONDON, March 18 — President Bush's ultimatum to Saddam Hussein resonated across a worried and divided world today, exposing in equal measures an overwhelming opposition to war in many nations, and a growing resignation to its approach.In Germany, Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, a passionate opponent of the military campaign, condemned the move toward an invasion, saying it meant "certain death to thousands of innocent men, women and children." At the same time, his spokesman, Bela Anda, said Berlin would honor pledges to permit overflights by United States military aircraft and the use of American bases in Germany.
Australia said it would commit 2,000 troops, flying in the face of wide domestic opposition to any deployment. But in Spain, one of the few other governments, along with Japan, to openly back President Bush, Prime Minister José María Aznar emphasized that Madrid's support for Washington — which has been greeted with massive opposition among ordinary Spaniards — did not include combat forces."In the case of a military intervention, Spain will not participate in attack missions," Mr. Aznar said to cheers in the Parliament. "As a result, there will not be any Spanish combat troops in the theater of operations.
"Underlying the world's response was a sense that corrosive divisions caused by the crisis would fester unhealed whatever the outcome in Baghdad. The European split over Iraq — largely pitting Britain and Spain against France and Germany — was depicted as yet further evidence of what critics regard as the Continent's impotence in international crises.
Europe's divide, said Prime Minister Costas Simitis of Greece, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, illustrates "the need for European countries to finally decide to adopt a common foreign and defense policy" if the Union is to be "effective in any international intervention.
"Secretary of State Colin L. Powell was reported to have said that 30 nations supported the move to disarm Iraq, including Estonia and Uzbekistan.The Bush ultimatum Monday night triggered a spate of last-minute departures from Iraq by weapons inspectors, diplomats and journalists, while other outsiders readied precautions against the possibility of the war spreading across the region and beyond.
British Airways announced the cancellation of daily flights to Israel and Kuwait. The Dutch and German airlines were also reported to have canceled flights to Kuwait scheduled for Wednesday. Two Indian airlines, Air India and Indian Airlines, said they were preparing to evacuate as many as 50,000 of the 315,000 Indians working in Kuwait if the conflict threatened that country.
In East Africa, the European Union urged its citizens to leave Somalia, although a United Nations security report said there was "no credible information that events in Iraq will stimulate reactions in Somalia." In Washington, the State Department has warned Americans to "re-evaluate" any planned trips to Kenya, in case of terror attacks.
"Al Qaeda is everywhere," said Kenya's national security minister, Christopher N. Murungaru. "Al Qaeda is in mosques. Al Qaeda is in offices. Al Qaeda is in every part of the world, including east Africa.
"The divisions go far beyond the region itself, cementing a range of nations from China to Mexico in opposition to America's war plans.China's newly appointed president, Hu Jintao, took his first cautious steps into international crisis diplomacy in telephone conservations with President Vladimir Putin of Russia and President Jacques Chirac of France, both strong opponents of the war, who had threatened to veto United Nations Security Council resolutions threatening conflict.A spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Kong Quan, said Beijing wanted a peaceful outcome."We demand that the Iraq question be solved with the United Nations framework," he said. "China is a responsible member of the international community. Under such circumstances, we still urge peace and want to avoid war."
That was the view, too, from the Vatican, where Pope John Paul II had tried in vain to persuade world leaders to avoid war. The papal spokesman, Joaquín Navarro-Walls, said, "Whoever decides that all peaceful means available under international law are exhausted assumes a grave responsibility before God, his own conscience and history."In a statement, India's Ministry of External Affairs said, "As long as the peaceful disarmament of Iraq has the slightest chance, we would continue to urge caution, self-restraint and high sense of responsibility on the part of concerned parties."
That sense of unhappiness, resignation and frustration extended to Moscow, where in a largely symbolic gesture the Duma, the lower house of the Russian legislature, postponed a vote on a landmark treaty with the United States to reduce nuclear arsenals. But the Kremlin's reaction appeared more nuanced, reflecting a concern to keep open channels of communication.In a telephone call initiated by the White House, President Putin "expressed regret that Washington issued an ultimatum and that intensive diplomatic efforts did not lead to a mutually acceptable compromise," the Kremlin's news service said. "It was stressed that in any situation the U.N. and its Security Council are called on to play a central role in ensuring international peace and stability."It continued, "Both parties emphasized that despite differences in approaches and assessments, maintaining bilateral ties in critical situations like the present one are of special importance."Mr. Putin's adviser on strategic issues, Marshal Igor Sergeyev, the hawkish former defense minister, sounded more bleak. In an interview with the Interfax news service, Mr. Sergeyev said that "the consequences for international security in the event of a new war in Iraq would be unpredictable and extremely negative.
"In the protracted diplomacy leading up to the ultimatum, both the United States and Britain calculated that they had won unequivocal support from several former Warsaw Pact allies of Moscow in Eastern and Central Europe that are now poised to join the European Union.Those nations — from Poland to Slovakia — seemed more muted in their responses today.The Czech defense minister, Jaroslav Tvrdik, told journalists after the meeting that Czech soldiers would only take part in cleaning up after the use of any chemical, biological or nuclear weapons. Slovakia, which has sent a nuclear chemical and biological warfare defense and cleanup unit to Kuwait, said it would not withdraw its support. "The key to settling the problem is now in the hands of the Iraqi leader," Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda. Hungary's government said it will not send troops or combat units to Iraq, limiting its support to the use of the Taszar air base, where hundreds of Iraqi émigrés are being trained as liaison officers for American forces in the Persian Gulf. Poland took the firmest line in supporting the United States, pledging 200 troops, most of whom are already in the gulf region.
The eastern European countries are torn between American pressure for support and French threats that their membership in the European Union could be called into question by their backing for the military campaign.Poland's foreign minister, Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz, who visited Paris on Monday, said, "It is clear, unfortunately, that question marks hang over the future and the efficacy of the United Nations, question marks hang over the future of the European Union, as well as over the efficacy of NATO.
"In Brussels, the secretary general of NATO, Lord Robertson, said: "What happens next is up to Saddam Hussein."Perhaps the most plaintive appeal for restraint came from an organization representing the 120 human shields who have traveled to Iraq to try to prevent military strikes.In a letter to Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain, the group urged him to protect from bombing the sites where human shields had been deployed. "We call on the public to support the brave men and women from Britain who have placed themselves in harm's way in order to try and protect the innocent people of Iraq," the letter said. |
