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SPIEGEL ONLINE - 10. Februar 2003, 9:20
URL: http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,234451,00.html
Nato-Krise

Frankreich stoppt Waffenhilfe für Türkei

Der Irak-Konflikt spaltet die Nato. Offenbar mit der Unterstützung Belgiens und Deutschlands hat Frankreich die von den USA beantragten Schutzmaßnahmen für die Türkei gegen mögliche irakische Raketenangriffe blockiert. Damit ist die Allianz nun nicht entscheidungsfähig.

Brüssel - Am Montagmorgen lief eine von Nato-Generalsekretär George Robertson gesetzte Frist ab. Ohne Einspruch eines Mitglieds wäre der Schutz für die Türkei angenommen. Nach Angaben aus Nato-Kreisen blockierte Frankreich die Maßnahme eine Stunde vor Ablauf der Frist um 10 Uhr.

Die Nato berief eine Dringlichkeitssitzung für 10.30 Uhr ein. Man wolle nicht den Eindruck erwecken, der Irak-Krieg habe bereits begonnen, sagte der belgische Außenminister Louis Michel dem französischen Rundfunksender"Europe 1" unter Berufung auf ein Gespräch mit seinem französischen Kollegen Dominique de Villepin.

Der Präsident der Europäischen Kommission, Romano Prodi, äußerte zugleich Unterstützung für die französischen und deutschen Versuche, im Irak-Konflikt eine friedliche Lösung zu finden.

"Wenn die Türkei wirklich bedroht wäre, wäre Frankreich als eines der ersten Länder an ihrer Seite", hatte die französische Verteidigungsministerin Michele Alliot-Marie schon während der Sicherheitskonferenz in München gesagt."Heute haben wir nicht das Gefühl, dass die Bedrohung da ist."

Belgien und Deutschland unterstützten das französische Veto. Außenminister Louis Michel hatte dies am Sonntag angekündigt."Wir werden es zu Dritt machen", sagte Belgiens Außenminister Louis Michel am Sonntag zum geplanten Veto Brüssels. Das französische Veto dürfte die Spaltung der Allianz weiter vertiefen. Im Bündnis sind nur Konsensentscheidungen möglich.

Wegen eines möglichen Irak-Krieges haben die USA beantragt, dass die Nato Patriot-Abwehrraketen, Awacs-Aufklärungsflugzeuge und Gerät zum Schutz vor atomaren, biologischen und chemischen Waffen in der Türkei stationiert. 16 der 19 Nato-Mitgliedstaaten hatten sich bereit erklärt, diesem Wunsch der USA nachzukommen.

Für Deutschland hatte Verteidigungsminister Peter Struck zuvor lediglich die Bereitstellung von Patriot-Systemen bis Ende dieser Woche an. Zum Einsatz von Awacs-Aufklärern über der Türkei sagte Struck, dass bis zur entscheidenden Sitzung des Nato-Rates eine Lösung gefunden werde.

US-Verteidigungsminister Donald Rumsfeld warf Deutschland, Frankreich und Belgien vor, sie gefährdeten mit ihrer Haltung den Zusammenhalt der Nato. Rumsfeld sagte der"Süddeutschen Zeitung", wenn die Nato der Türkei keinen Schutz gewähre, sei das"eine Schande. Die Türkei ist ein wichtiges Land. Ein moderates muslimisches Land. Es würde vom Schutz gegen chemische und biologische Waffen und von den Awacs-Flugzeugen profitieren." Eine Verweigerung des Nato-Schutzes sei"ein schrecklicher Fehler, ein überraschendes und atemberaubendes Ereignis."

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winkääää [img][/img]
stocksorcerer

-->By PAUL AMES
The Associated Press
Monday, February 10, 2003; 3:55 AM

France and Belgium on Monday blocked the start of NATO military planning to protect Turkey against the threat of an Iraqi missile attack, further deepening divisions in the alliance over the Iraq crisis.

NATO officials said France formally blocked the move an hour before alliance procedures would have automatically started the military planning at 4 a.m. EST. As expected, Belgium backed the French move.

The French and Belgian foreign ministers held a telephone conference early Monday and said they still opposed the automatic start of military planning.

"They had their talks and they will continue to block," said Belgian government spokesman Didier Seeuws of the talks between his foreign minister Louis Michel and his French counterpart Dominique de Villepin.

The French decision was a blow to the United States which has lobbied hard for more than three weeks for the alliance to start the military planning, backed by 16 of the 19 NATO allies.

On Sunday, Michel had said it was too early for the alliance to take such decisions.

"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," Michel said.

It was unclear if Germany, which had previously backed French and Belgian hesitation, also supported the latest delay of the planning to send surveillance planes, anti-missile batteries and units specialized in dealing with germ warfare and poison gas attacks to Turkey.

Faced with the latest delay, Turkey was widely expected to call for urgent consultations under NATO's mutual defense treaty. A meeting of NATO's policy making North Atlantic Council was scheduled for 4:30 a.m. EST.

Diplomats said they expected France and the other holdouts to drop their objections to the military planning faced with a direct request from the Turks under the treaty.

At a stormy weekend meeting in Munich, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld warned continued delays in responding to Turkey's request were"inexcusable" and risked undermining the credibility of the alliance.

Rumsfeld intensified his criticism in an interview Sunday with Italy's La Republica newspaper."Shameful, for me it's truly shameful," Rumsfeld was quoted as saying."Turkey is an ally. An ally that is risking everything... How can you refuse it help?"

In France, officials countered that it was too early to start military preparations while diplomatic efforts continued to avoid war. However they stressed they would help the Turks if they judged it necessary.

"If Turkey was really under threat, France would be one of the first at its side," French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie told reporters in Munich."Today we don't feel that threat is there."

Other NATO allies expressed confidence the doubters would rally to the plan early this week in response to a direct Turkish request.

"I trust the alliance will stick together and we will help Turkey," Norwegian Defense Minister Kristin Krohn Devold said Sunday."I have a strong belief in common sense."

As well as trans-Atlantic differences, the deadlock has highlighted deep divisions among European allies. The majority, led by Britain, Spain and Italy, is backing the tough line against Iraq taken by the United States and has been opposed by France and Germany.

NATO's military commanders say the planning for the limited support for Turkey can be wrapped up within a few days once they get the go-ahead, but actual deployment of the NATO units will need further approval from the 19 allies.

All NATO decisions require unanimous support from the allies.

© 2003 The Associated Press

-->War split puts Nato's future in jeopardy
By Roger Boyes in Munich, Elaine Monaghan in Washington and Melissa Kite


AN EXTRAORDINARY schism opened up in the Western alliance yesterday as Washington flatly rejected a Franco-German plan to avert war by pouring UN weapons inspectors — and troops — into Iraq.
President Putin of Russia last night backed the plan to turn Iraq into a de facto UN protectorate, due to be published on Friday, but President Bush and his leading officials bluntly declared that the United States would go it alone if the United Nations Security Council refused to approve military action.

Later today the deepening transatlantic rift over Iraq is expected to plunge Nato into one of the deepest crises of its 54-year history when Belgium, France and probably Germany veto a decision to start contingency planning to defend Turkey in the event of a war.

In an interview with The Times Donald Rumsfeld, the US Defence Secretary, said that such a move to deny Patriot missiles and other Nato hardware to an alliance member would be “breathtaking” and “reverberate” through the alliance.

Mr Rumsfeld also said that his preferred solution to the crisis was for President Saddam Hussein to go into exile, and indicated that America would not seek his extradition in those circumstances.

The next key moment in the countdown to war will occur on Friday when Hans Blix, the chief UN weapons inspector, reports back to the Security Council on two days of talks with Iraqi officials in Baghdad that concluded last night.

Dr Blix secured none of the dramatic concessions required to placate Washington, but said he perceived “a beginning” to the much fuller co- operation with weapons inspectors that the UN has demanded.

The Franco-German plan envisages:


A threefold increase in the number of UN inspectors on the ground. At present there are about 100;

The use of French reconnaissance jets, German drones and American U2s in an aerial search for hiding places;

The extension of no-fly zones to all Iraqi airspace;

The setting up of a permanent UN monitoring agency in Iraq;

Smart sanctions applied against every infringement by Saddam including a tightening of export controls and a crackdown on oil smuggling;

A special United Nations court to investigate human rights abuses.

The deployment of UN troops across the country, setting up road blocks and checking suspicious transports.
At a meeting in Berlin last night Mr Putin, who is visiting Berlin and Paris to co-ordinate Russia, Germany and France’s opposition to war, said that Russia was “almost completely in agreement” with the Franco-German plan.

That means it is backed by two of the five veto-wielding members of the Security Council plus the country that chairs it.

Vatican officials said that the plan also had the support of the Pope, who is sending a personal envoy to Baghdad today as part of his one-man campaign to avert war.

But the Franco-German initiative elicited only scorn and defiance in Washington.

“I don’t think the next step should be let’s send in more inspectors to get stiffed,” Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, said. “It’s not more inspectors that we need. It’s more co-operation — far more co-operation.”

He called the plan a “diversion, not a solution”. Referring to the last UN resolution, which gave warning of “serious consequences” if Iraq did not fully comply with UN weapons inspectors, General Powell continued: “More inspectors doesn’t answer the question and what France has to do and Germany has to do... is read (Resolution) 1441 again.”

President Bush made clear that America would act with or without UN support. “The UN gets to decide shortly whether or not it is going to be relevant in terms of keeping the peace — whether or not its words mean anything,” he said during a visit to West Virginia. “But one thing is certain. For the sake of peace and the sake of security, the United States and our friends and allies, we will disarm Saddam Hussein if he will not disarm himself.”

General Powell and Condoleezza Rice, Mr Bush’s National Security Adviser, appeared on television chatshows yesterday to stress that time had almost run out. “If (Saddam) is going to comply he can do it today,” General Powell asked. “How much longer are we to wait?” The British Government, America’s closest ally, also poured cold water on the Franco-German plan. “You can put all the inspectors in the world in but the bottom line remains the same. The bottom line is Resolution 1441,” a senior source said.

“Saddam Hussein is either co-operating or he is not. Unless there is full compliance from the regime it really does not matter how many inspectors you put in or whether they are supported by troops. They are still not going to be able to do their job.”

The Americans were angered not only by the content of the Franco-German plan, but by the fact that it was hatched in secret. The plan was not mentioned to Mr Rumsfeld during a private session with Peter Struck, the German Defence Minister, at a conference in Munich.

“Everything has been played close to the chest,” a chancellery adviser said yesterday. Cautious approval seems to have been gained from China, Greece — which holds the six-month European Union presidency — and from the Pope, who met Joschka Fischer, the German Foreign Minister, on Friday. The news magazine Der Spiegel said yesterday, however, that the British, Spanish and Italians were not consulted.

-->Dass Berlin die Frist hat verstreichen lassen, ohne zusammen mit Belgien und Frankreich die NATO-Vorbereitungen zu blockieren, ist doch voll daneben. Wieso läßt man das laufen, wo das doch voll konträr zur bisherigen Position läuft?

Man läßt die wenigen Partner im Kampf gegen den Schwachsinn nicht im Stich. Der Schlingerkurs ist dumm und gefährlich. Meine Meinung.

winkäää
stocksorcerer

-->>Dass Berlin die Frist hat verstreichen lassen, ohne zusammen mit Belgien und Frankreich die NATO-Vorbereitungen zu blockieren, ist doch voll daneben. Wieso läßt man das laufen, wo das doch voll konträr zur bisherigen Position läuft?
>Man läßt die wenigen Partner im Kampf gegen den Schwachsinn nicht im Stich. Der Schlingerkurs ist dumm und gefährlich. Meine Meinung.
>winkäää
>stocksorcerer

...meine auch!!Aber was willste machen, die Flaschen müssen eben stramm stehen
vor ihren"Oberen Brüdern" und die haben sie heute antanzen lassen. So ist es,
wenn man sich mit dem Teufel einläßt.Schuld ist diese völlig gleichgeschaltete
Pressehure und ihre hörigen Journalisten/Redakteure.Heute dürfte der Dümmste er-
kennen,daß es eine freie Presse nicht gibt sondern nur hörige Schwächlinge die
großmäulig dem Zeitgeist (ihren Herren)huldigen und keinen eigenen Willen mehr
haben,die winselnd um des täglichen Brotes willen jede Scham vor Lügen und inte-
llektueller Redlichkeit verloren und für diese Lügen bezahlen die Leser auch
noch.Es ist dem Schröder zu wünschen Rückgrad zu zeigen und die britisch-usrae-
lischen Weltkriegstreiber bloßzustellen.Der kommende Krieg mag grausam werden,
der anschließende Frieden unter einer terroristisch-kommunistischen Weltdiktatur
aber wird zur Hölle.Jeder mag die Gulag-Bücher lesen,die Geister,die da geherrscht haben,leben auch heute noch,-die bestimmen den Zeitgeist!