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Europe skeptical { October 8 2002 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-US-Iraq-World-Reax.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-US-Iraq-World-Reax.html
October 8, 2002
Europe Still Skeptical of Iraq War
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 1:13 p.m. ET
MOSCOW (AP) -- President Bush's call for greater pressure on Iraq won guarded support in Asia and Australia on Tuesday, but his threats failed to overcome widespread skepticism in Europe, where most nations are deeply concerned by the prospects of war.
Iraq said Bush's address Monday night aimed to justify an ``illegitimate'' attack on it. Iraqis and other Arabs said the speech showed Washington's determination for war, but the Egyptian and Jordanian governments said they were pleased by Bush's statement that war was not ``imminent or unavoidable.''
Britain was the exception in Europe to the prevailing lack of enthusiasm for Bush's tough line. Prime Minister Tony Blair said he shared ``the same analysis'' of the threat posed by Iraq and that both countries wanted the United Nations to make clear its determination to disarm Iraq.
Bush's speech Monday night rounded up much of the administration's case for an assault on Iraq, with Bush calling Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein a ``murderous tyrant.'' He said Saddam may be planning to attack the United States with biological or chemical weapons and could have a nuclear bomb in less than a year.
Bush said he would ``act with the full power of the United States military'' against Saddam unless declare and destroy all of its weapons of mass destruction, end support for terrorism and cease persecution of its civilians.
The speech was seen in part as an attempt to rally reluctant allies abroad. But Russia and France, which like the United States hold veto powers on the U.N. Security Council, underlined that they still oppose Washington's efforts for a U.N. resolution imposing strict demands on Baghdad for weapons inspectors and threatening use of force against Iraq.
In Russia, Deputy Foreign Ministry Yuri Fedotov, although not reacting directly to Bush's speech, told the Interfax news agency that the resolution proposed by the United States was disingenuous and contained demands that Washington was ``well aware'' could not be met.
Fedotov said Russia supported France, which has proposed a two-step solution that would give Baghdad the opportunity to comply with U.N. resolutions on destroying its weapons of mass destruction before the world body met to decide on approving a possible military strike.
Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said Russia would support any United Nations resolution aimed at increasing the effectiveness of weapons inspectors.
In Germany, Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said armed confrontation with Iraq would be a ``great tragedy.'' However, he added that Baghdad would have to ``fulfill its obligation without exception.''
French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin called Saddam Hussein a ``potential menace'' to the Middle East, but said Tuesday war with Baghdad should be a last resort. He told parliament the international community must unite in pressuring Baghdad to disarm.
``Military action against Iraq that is perceived as illegitimate ... would reinforce the feeling of injustice that prevails in the Arab world today,'' Raffarin said.
The foreign ministers of Jordan and Egypt chose to focus on Bush's statement that war could be avoided.
``We still believe that a military operation isn't imminent and that there's a chance for diplomatic moves to try to avert the dangers of such a war,'' Jordan's Marwan Muasher told reporters in Amman.
But many Arabs saw Bush as determined to attack.
``The speech contained misleading information through which Bush is trying to justify an illogical and illegitimate attack on Iraq,'' said Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri.
Iraqi media kept to their regular programming Tuesday, so ordinary Iraqis relied on radios to hear the speech.
Ahmed Taha, an Iraqi university student, said he wished Bush had used ``new words like dialogue and peace rather than his old words like war and accusations.''
In Baghdad, secondary school teacher Dia'a al-Na'eimy, 55, joined dozens of others at a blood bank. ``Our presence here today is a response to Bush's speech and it is a strong and decisive response. We will protect our leader with our blood,'' she said.
In Afghanistan, U.S. troops at the Bagram Air Base who watched Bush's speech said they were ready for another war, but had doubts about doing it without world support.
``I agree with the president that something has to be done,'' said Senior Airman George Bonney, 27, of Portsmouth, Va. ``But I don't like going it alone. I don't think that's a good idea at all.''
Thousands of U.S. troops are stationed here to help search for remnants of the al-Qaida terrorism network, which Bush tried to link with Iraq in his speech.
In the Ukrainian on Tuesday, President Leonid Kuchma denied he ordered the sale of a sophisticated radar system to Iraq. Kuchma also called for exhausting all possible measures to avoid war with Iraq.
The U.S. State Department said last month that it had verified the authenticity of a July 2000 recording in which Kuchma is allegedly heard giving his approval to the sale of a Kolchuha radar system to Iraq, in violation of U.N. sanctions.
Bush had more luck in Asia, where initial reaction from Australia and Japan was supportive.
``We think the speech is a very measured and considered speech. It puts the pressure in this debate very much on the shoulders of Saddam Hussein,'' Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said. Australia has been one of Washington's staunchest allies in the campaign against Saddam.
In Japan, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's spokeswoman, Misako Kaji, said Tokyo welcomed Bush's confirmation in the speech that it remains important to pursue a U.N. Security Council resolution.
Doubts over Bush's hardline approach were also heard in the largely Muslim nation of Malaysia.
``Maybe Saddam is evil, and he must not be allowed to develop weapons of mass destruction, but the U.N. must be given a chance to explore a peaceful solution,'' Hishamuddin Hussein, Malaysia's youth and sports minister, told delegates at the East Asian Economic Summit being held in Kuala Lumpur.
In the Indonesian capital Jakarta, more than 100 Muslim youths, waving anti-war banners and posters, staged a peaceful protest outside U.S. Embassy.
``Stop War'', ``No More Blood'' and ``Stop campaign for US' invasion of Iraq,'' were among the banners unfurled during the rally.
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