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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: brian1501 who wrote (160662)	2/12/2003 10:47:18 AM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1575465

Mr. Bush needs to grow up! If people don't like him, tought titty. He has a responsibility to maintain what's in the best interest of the United States, not his ego. So it's in our best interest to forget about our best interests and kiss France and Germany's asses? You ever hear of the word compromise? That's what needs to be done now.......consultation and compromise. And it is definitely not in our best interests to be estranged from our biggest and closest allies We're not. The UK is with us. You have Blair sans his Labour Party and the people of the UK. I am not impressed. Right now, Blair is fighting for his political life. He was appointed PM by his party........presumably, they can revoke that honor if they so choose. Most of "new Europe" is with us. What has France ever done for us? I recently heard a commentator mention that "going to war without France is like going deer hunting without an accordion". That pretty much sums it up.</I. Oh right......New Europe.....they don't have a pot to piss in. New Europe..........they're so new they don't have any money. I posted before.......the Czech Rep. is coming up with $35 million for the Iraqi effort. You understand that $35 million in this grand scheme of things is like pennies. And you know what, the Czech parliament is balking....they don't know how they will raise the money and they don't want to pay it. How do you like dem apples? And that raises another issue........the leaders of New Europe; their parliaments and their people are not in agreement with their stance. Go back and look at the latest European poll I posted....the people in countries like Bulgaria and Rumania are less supportive of the Iraqi war than the people in France or Germany. Is that what you all want.......a major war? No, we want Hussein disarmed. France and Germany don't seem to want that. And why do you think that is? And don't give this horseshit that they sell supplies to Iraq and that's why. Do you have any reason to believe that this time around the Iraqi military won't be surrendering to news crews again? The only issue would be if Iraq is dumb enough to use WMD this time. I don't know what will happen but I have a bad feeling it will not be the slam dunk you all seem to think it will be. ted Enter symbols or keywords for search: QuotesStock TalkChartsNewsPeople Symbol Lookup Subject Titles Only Full Text Go to Top Terms of Use Got a comment, question or suggestion? Contact Silicon Investor.

To: brian1501 who wrote (160662)	2/12/2003 12:03:09 PM
From: tejek	Respond to of 1575465

NATO Debates Iraq Compromise BRUSSELS, Belgium (Feb. 12) - The United States sought Wednesday to overcome objections by France, Germany and Belgium to NATO preparations in case of an Iraq war. A compromise dealt only with defending Turkey and dropped a request for NATO troops to replace any allied forces sent from the Balkans to the Persian Gulf. The three European countries have been blocking a proposal backed by the United States and 15 other nations to prepare to send anti-missile batteries and surveillance aircraft to protect Turkey from Iraqi reprisals. The United States - and a growing number of Europeans - say their opposition threatens NATO credibility. NATO diplomats said Wednesday the compromise proposal represented progress. But, they said, the three holdouts still want to link any NATO decision to Friday's report to the U.N. Security Council on Iraq's cooperation with weapons inspectors. ''Our position has not changed,'' said Francois Rivasseau, a French Foreign Ministry spokesman. He said supporting NATO action now could ''prejudice decisions that are up to the Security Council'' on how to deal with Iraq. The compromise proposal was presented Wednesday morning after intensive overnight negotiations. The United agreed to eliminate two requests from its original proposal: that NATO fill in for European troops if they are moved from the Balkans to the Persian Gulf, and that European forces step up guard duties at U.S. bases in Europe. Alliance officials said both those issues were being dealt with at a bilateral level - Germany, for example, deployed hundreds of soldiers at U.S. bases last month. ''We entered a new phase of the discussions,'' U.S. Ambassador Nicholas Burns said. But, he added, ''It may take some time to get to the end.'' ''We believe that we now have elements which can help up bring the discussion forward,'' NATO spokesman Yves Brodeur said. ''The proposal now specifically addresses the defensive needs of Turkey.'' The 19 ambassadors met for 90 minutes Wednesday morning to receive the proposals, then ended the meeting for more negotiations before another session later Wednesday. The proposed change would leave the plan focused entirely on Turkey's request for help through the dispatch of AWACS radar planes, Patriot anti-missile batteries and specialized units to counter poison gas or germ warfare attacks. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said he believed Turkey's request would eventually be met. ''What has been requested, as far as Germany is concerned, will be granted,'' he said at a summit in the Canary Islands with the Spanish prime minister. France, Germany and Belgium have said they are not opposed to defending Turkey, but that launching preparations to do so now would send the signal that an Iraq war is inevitable. Of the rift in NATO, Schroeder said, ''I hope we can resolve it.'' NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson was hoping for an agreement that would start to patch up the alliance's worst internal dispute in years. For almost a month, the holdouts have blocked the start of military planning to help Turkey, saying the move would send a signal that NATO is engaged on an irreversible path of war and would undermine U.N. efforts to end the Iraq crisis peacefully. ''The alliance is breaking itself up because it will not meet its responsibilities,'' Secretary of State Colin Powell warned Tuesday. The division in the alliance threatens U.S. efforts to rally support in the U.N. Security Council for military action against Iraq. France and Germany, joined by Russia and China, are seeking more time for stronger U.N. inspections in a proposal opposed by Washington and London. NATO's dispute intensified Monday when Turkey invoked the alliance's mutual defense treaty to ask for assistance, but was rebuffed by the three. Critics on both sides of the Atlantic said the holdouts sent a dangerous message of disunity to the Iraqi leadership. ''You cannot say Turkey doesn't feel threatened,'' said Dutch Foreign Minister Jaap de Hoop Scheffer in The Hague, Netherlands. ''There is one man and one regime that can profit from this (division): Saddam Hussein.'' AP-NY-02-12-03 1149EST Copyright 2003 The Associated Press.