January 23, 2003
OLD THINK:
U.S. Set to Demand That Allies Agree Iraq Is Defying U.N. (STEVEN R. WEISMAN, January 23, 2003, NY Times)If anything, Americans officials said, the recent French and German appeal for American patience has backfired--emboldening the hawks in the administration and even spurring Secretary of State Colin L. Powell to tell aides that he would accept military action against Iraq without approval from the Security Council.Mr. Powell has resisted that position for months. Sounding tougher today than he has, he said on the PBS program "The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer" that the question was whether to allow Iraq "a few more weeks, a few more months" to comply when it was clear already that it would never do so.
"Frankly," he added, "there are some nations in the world who would like simply to turn away from this problem, pretend it isn't there."
Mr. Powell's comments appeared to be a direct rebuttal of the call for a delay of two or three months by the French foreign minister, Dominique de Villepin, with whom he has talked frequently--some said tensely--since the weekend.
Going further, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld dismissed the German and French roles in a newly expanded NATO, which has been asked to provide indirect assistance for an Iraqi invasion.
"You're thinking of Europe as Germany and France," Mr. Rumsfeld told foreign journalists at the State Department, as leaders of the two countries today solemnly celebrated the 40th anniversary of their treaty of friendship in Versailles, France. "I don't. I think that's old Europe." He added: "You look at vast numbers of other countries in Europe. They're not with France and Germany on this. They're with the United States."
At the end of the day, what do France and Germany really have to offer in the event of war--white flags and Zyklon-B respectively?
MORE:
The French Death Blow (Colin May, Innocents Abroad)