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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: stockman_scott who wrote (13312)	2/21/2003 5:02:08 PM
From: Skywatcher	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

The mess is getting worse PASSION STOKED ``There's no question that a succession of diplomatic moves by (President George W.) Bush, including (opposition to) the Kyoto protocol, the International Criminal Court, the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and other similar defections from multilateralism, have created the backdrop for this standoff on Iraq,'' said European expert Charles Kupchan. ``Does that mean if these other events hadn't come first there would be unity on the Security Council? I wouldn't go that far. But it helps to explain the passionate nature of the debate and the widespread protests that have been sweeping Europe. Anti-Americanism has been on a steady rise since Bush took office. It's not just about Iraq,'' said Kupchan of the Council on Foreign Relations. Even before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Bush sought to reassert American leadership and power in many spheres, often fomenting resentments in the process by pursuing what critics view as a unilateral agenda with heavy-handed tactics. On such issues as the global warming treaty known as Kyoto, the International Criminal Court and the ABM Treaty, U.S. officials declared their position repeatedly, brooking no compromise, until opponents were either persuaded or worn down. Bush also asserted a willingness to wage preventive wars, reinforcing an image of America as too quick to use force. The president's reluctant decision to seek U.N. Security Council support for a tough line on Iraq was an effort to win over critics but many believed Bush and his team, keen to finish the job left undone in the 1991 Gulf War, were not serious about a diplomatic solution. RISING TENSIONS In recent weeks, tensions have risen as NATO allies France and Germany dug in their heels against military action against Iraq, Turkey bargained hard for more aid in exchange for U.S. basing rights and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld rankled Paris and Berlin by dismissing them as ``Old Europe.'' ``I think you can definitely argue the Bush people may have rubbed a little salt in the wounds and the rhetoric tended to exaggerate rather than diminish the differences,'' said Walter Russell Mead, also of the Council on Foreign Relations. But the idea of Europe ``being increasingly unhappy with American leadership while the U.S. feels its leadership is more needed than ever after Sept. 11 -- that's something that's there. It doesn't matter who was president,'' he said. U.S.-European consensus on Iraq is still possible but even if America goes to war without U.N. approval, transatlantic ties will survive, as in previous upheavals, he added. NATO Secretary-General George Robertson said the dispute over whether to give Turkey equipment to defend itself against Iraq showed alliance disarray but was not a mortal blow. Kupchan was more pessimistic, doubting NATO would survive the crisis and warning that Washington's failure to win U.N. support for military action would be a ``historical turning point that would ... deal a powerful blow to the U.N.,the West as a coherent political entity ... and risk the United States' international political legitimacy.'' CC