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Politics : DON'T START THE WAR -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: PartyTime who wrote (3045)	1/22/2003 1:03:13 AM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25898

European Leaders Hear Anti-War Cry -- And Listen U.S. intervention in Iraq questioned by Tom Hundley Published on Tuesday, January 21, 2003 by the Chicago Tribune LONDON -- After a weekend of anti-war demonstrations across the continent, political leaders in European capitals appear resolved to slow the Bush administration's drive toward a military confrontation with Iraq. "We will not take part in a military intervention in Iraq, and that is exactly how our voting behavior will be in all international bodies," German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said in a weekend speech. German Defense Minister Peter Struck said that a "yes" vote by Germany was "no longer conceivable." Thousands of people march through a Marseille street in southern France, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2003, as part of demonstrations planned around the world this weekend to urge the United States and its allies to find a peaceful end to the crisis in Iraq. Banner, front, reads:' No to the war on Iraq, Justice, Peace and Democracy in Middle East and around the world.' (AP Photo/Claude Paris) In Paris, senior French officials said that France will use its seat on the Security Council and all of its influence to restrain U.S. militarism. British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the Bush administration's most steadfast ally in the confrontation with Iraq, has been warned by members of his Labor Party that he faces a full-scale revolt within the ranks if he attempts to take Britain to war without the political fig leaf of a second UN resolution. Blair has said he prefers a UN solution but that Britain is committed to act alongside the United States. On Monday, British Defense Minister Geoff Hoon told Parliament that up to 26,000 more troops soon would be following the 5,000 British troops already on their way to the Persian Gulf region. Hoon said that the deployment did not mean war was inevitable but that the military buildup was the only way to convince Saddam Hussein that the international community is serious about disarming Iraq. The reason for the growing qualms of European political leaders is simple: It mirrors the mood of voters. Opinion polls across Europe show little enthusiasm for military intervention and deepening skepticism about the Bush administration's motives for going to war. In France, a new poll published by the left-wing newspaper L'Humanite showed 82 percent against a war with Iraq and 75 percent in favor of France's using its veto on the UN security council to block a new UN resolution. A poll conducted by the weekly Journal du Dimanche showed similar results. The German polling group Infratest-Dimpa showed that 76 percent of the population opposed a war with Iraq even if it had UN backing. The Italian daily La Repubblica published a poll that showed 61 percent against war and only 30 percent in favor. The latest opinion surveys in Britain showed a slim majority backing war, but only if UN weapons inspections have been allowed to run their course and a new UN resolution is secured. Chris Patten, the European Union's commissioner for external relations, warns that the EU, the world's largest aid donor, could withhold contributions for the reconstruction of postwar Iraq if the U.S. failed to seek UN sanction for military intervention. But he also said that if the U.S. worked through the UN, it stood a good chance of winning European backing. "If you go down the UN route, there are obligations on both sides," he said. The Bush administration, he said, has an obligation to give the weapons inspections a chance to succeed. "But if Saddam Hussein is still challenging the inspections, then there is an obligation on [the UN membership] to face up to its responsibilities," he said. European leaders also lent their voices to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's call for Hussein to avert war by going into voluntary exile. "It would be unpalatable to see any degree of immunity being offered to the Saddam Hussein regime," British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Monday. "But if the alternative is war, I think most people would swallow hard and accept it." Most leaders thought it unlikely Hussein would accept exile. "What do you think will happen to the first person in Baghdad who goes up to Saddam Hussein and tells him it's time to spend a bit more time with his family?" said Patten. Copyright © 2003, Chicago Tribune commondreams.org