-->France, Germany Veto NATO Aid if Iraq Attacks Turkey
NewsMax.com Wires and NewsMax.com
Monday, Feb. 10, 2003
BRUSSELS, Belgium - NATO was plunged into its deepest crisis for decades Monday after France, Germany and Belgium vetoed a U.S. request to provide military assistance to Turkey in the event of an attack by neighboring Iraq.
Ankara subsequently invoked Article Four of the NATO treaty, which says the alliance will consult"when, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the parties is threatened."
NATO General Secretary Lord Robertson said it was probably the first time in the alliance's 54-year history that the article had been used.
The three European nations, which are staunchly opposed to the military buildup in the Persian Gulf and have ties to Saddam Hussein's dictatorship, have blocked the U.S. request for three successive weeks. They claim it would undermine efforts to find a"peaceful solution."
In a bid to break the deadlock, Robertson Friday invoked the"silence procedure," which gave the alliance's 19 members three days to formally voice their opposition to start contingency planning.
The foreign ministers of France, Germany and Belgium sent a letter of objection to the alliance's Brussels headquarters just hours before the 6 a.m. EST deadline expired, prompting NATO ambassadors to hold an emergency meeting in Brussels today.
Speaking after the conclave, Robertson told reporters:"It is undoubtedly a difficult situation, but the allies have had their differences before, and they will undoubtedly have more in the future. What matters is that we arrive at a consensus and I am confident that we will.
"The question is not if but when to begin planning."
Washington, backed by Ankara and 14 other NATO members, is waiting for the green light to deploy early-warning aircraft, patriot anti-missile defenses and anti-chemical warfare teams to Turkey to protect the alliance's only predominantly Muslim nation against possible aggression from Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
However, Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel said the planning pandered to the"logic of war." In an interview with Belgian daily Le Soir today, Michel said:"Iraq seems ready to cooperate. Let's not rush things."
'Inexcusable'
The veto comes as a slap in the face for members of President Bush's administration, who used a major defense conference in Munich, Germany, over the weekend to lobby wavering allies to back military preparations."We really want the alliance to be with us in the crisis with Iraq, and we think it is a test of the alliance's credibility to meet Turkey's request for its allies' help," said U.S. Ambassador to NATO Nicolas Burns.
Speaking on the margins of the same conference, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld described the Franco-Belgian veto as"inexcusable."
France is no longer a U.S. ally, and NATO"must develop a strategy to contain our erstwhile ally or we will not be talking about a NATO alliance," Richard Perle, the head of the Pentagon's top advisory board said last week.
The New York Post has described pro-Saddam France and Germany as the"axis of weasel." Apparently Belgium is eager to join that dubious club.
Copyright 2003 by United Press International.
All rights reserved.
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/2/10/91042.shtml
|