Europeans Demonstrate Backbone, Oppose War



World opinion has turned decisively against the war planners of Washington and London. The cabal of British and American war hawks has suddenly become politically isolated in both NATO and the UN Security Council.



Exclusive to American Free Press

By Christopher Bollyn



BERLIN—When a reinvigorated German-French friendship treaty became a powerful European alliance for peace, key nations such as Red China, Russia and Norway quickly joined their voices in support of the international effort to thwart the rush to war against Iraq.

The Anglo-American-Israeli axis, which has pushed for military action since Sept. 11, 2001, now faces stiff resistance from traditional European allies, Russia and China.

Supported by public opinion in Europe and America, which is overwhelmingly opposed to war in Iraq, the leaders of Europe’s two largest nations, Germany and France, announced their intention to work together to prevent a war. With France having veto power in the Security Council and Germany assuming the role as chairman of the council on Feb. 1, the German-French alliance has the power to check the Anglo-American-Israeli war hawks.

SURPRISE ANNOUNCEMENT

The surprise announcement by the German and French leaders to work together to prevent war came as the legislative bodies of the two nations gathered at Versailles to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Elysée Treaty, a friendship pact between the two nations.

The two countries pledged on Jan. 22 to cooperate and “be attentive to adopt common positions in international bodies, including the Security Council.”

At a joint press conference in Paris, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said: “We are both completely agreed on harmonizing our positions as closely as possible so as to find a peaceful solution to the Iraqi crisis.

“We are of the opinion that every effort with peaceful means has to be used” in order to ensure that Iraq complies with UN Security Council Resolution 1441, Schroeder said. He recently repeated his campaign promise that Germany would not vote for any council resolution seeking authority for war on Baghdad.

“We are both of the opinion, and the French president said that quite clearly yesterday, that one can never accept it when it is said that ‘war is unavoidable,’ ” Schroeder said. “War may never be considered unavoidable.”

While both countries had previously made known their reservations about war, the formal pledge to synchronize their efforts presents a significant obstacle to the war planners of the Washington-London-Tel Aviv axis, who Bush calls the “coalition of the willing.”

It now appears that if the United States and Britain intend to wage war in the near future against Iraq, they will have to do so without the support or sanction of either the UN Security Council or NATO.

With public opinion strongly opposed to such a unilateral war—not authorized by the Security Council—the war hawks of Washington and London are growing increasingly isolated and desperate.

As the short Iraqi winter ends, the war planners in Washington and London are pressed for time as Iraqi desert temperatures begin to climb. The apparent impatience of the Bush administration with the UN weapons inspections has more to do with the approach of spring than the threat posed by Iraqi weapons. A Russian paper recently reported that the military campaign against Iraq would begin in February.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld tried to marginalize the common position of Europe’s two largest nations, saying that Germany and France were “Old Europe” and that they no longer represented the center of Europe, which he said, had moved to the east.

One day after Berlin and Paris pledged to work together to avoid war, China, Russia, and Norway voiced their agreement with the common position of France and Germany.

With Russia and China supporting the joint European position, three of the five permanent members of the Security Council now have stated positions calling for a diplomatic solution to the Iraqi crisis, a crisis that has been created and driven by political elites in London and Washington.

“I think the sense of the council is that the majority is against military action,” Russia’s deputy UN ambassador, Gennady Gatilov, said.

Igor Ivanov, Russia’s foreign minister, said the UN inspectors in Iraq need more time and a second UN resolution would be required for military action.

PUBLIC AGAINST WAR

Seven in 10 Americans share Ivanov’s position and would give UN weapons inspectors more time to continue searching for illegal arms in Iraq, according to a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll.

In Britain, the polling numbers are similar: only 30 percent of the public supports Prime Minister Tony Blair’s call for military intervention in Iraq.

Across Europe public opinion is overwhelmingly opposed to war.

In France, recent polls showed 82 percent against a war with Iraq and 75 percent in favor of France using its veto on the Security Council to block a new UN resolution.

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 of those polled were against war and only 30 percent in favor.

In Turkey, an estimated 85 percent of the population is against war. Only 11 percent of the Russians polled support the U.S. government’s position to wage war on Iraq.

Spain’s prime minister, José Maria Aznar, has taken a risky and very unpopular position of supporting the war policy. Only 2 percent of the Spanish population gives unconditional support to that position.

NO EVIDENCE

Fedotov said Russia had no evidence Iraq had developed weapons of mass destruction. Moscow has requested to see what evidence the British and the United States have to support their claim that Baghdad has such weapons, but had not received any.

China, which has veto power on the Security Council, said on Jan. 23 that its position was close to France and Germany on the Iraq issue. The communist government said it was unsettled by the massive buildup of force in the Middle East.

Norway, a NATO member and traditional U.S. ally, indicated that it could say no to a war. Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik said it was conceivable that Norway would oppose a war even in the event of approval by the Security Council.

A NATO meeting on Jan. 22, in which an U.S. request for support was discussed, ended in a row after Belgium and Luxembourg joined Germany and France and blocked the organization from preparing support measures for a potential U.S.-led invasion.

A diplomat reported that the debate in the North Atlantic Council, NATO’s political arm, was “heated, to say the least. It was a very tough discussion.” Despite having been asked to stay on, NATO’s secretary-general, Lord Robertson, unexpectedly announced that he would step down in December.