The Hindu : U.S., Britain seek NATO allies' support

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Sep 26, 2002

International

International

U.S., Britain seek NATO allies' support

By Batuk Gathani

BRUSSELS SEPT. 25. As the 19 NATO Defence Ministers concluded their meeting in Warsaw last night, the U.S. and Britain took the initiative to press their allies to take action over Iraq.

At the same time, the NATO secretary general, Lord Robertson, called for a new pre-emptive strategy against "rogue states'' which were identified as Iraq, Iran and North Korea — and accused by the Bush administration of promoting global terrorism.

In what is interpreted as a controversial remark, Lord Robertson said it was the job of the NATO to protect citizens from "criminal terrorists and criminal states.''

The French Government has insisted that the U.N. Security Council must mandate any action against Iraq.

France also warned that launching a pre-emptive strikes against Iraq could inflame the Arab world against the West and would set a dangerous precedent.

The French Defence Minister, Michele Alliot-Marie, said a military initiative without the approval of the U.N. Security Council could be "extremely dangerous because it could open all sorts of possibilities.'' She spoke before senior American officials briefed the NATO Defence Ministers at a closed-door session.

It is also ironical that so far the Bush administration has cold-shouldered NATO in planning the military attack on Iraq. On other hand, the British Defence Ministry has been briefed and consulted. Britain is "awash with conditional plans, but remains keen to squash speculation'' according to media reports.

American officials have argued that NATO countries have not been briefed over the offensive against Iraq purely for "security reasons''. NATO is obviously being sidelined in what is widely interpreted as an important military operation as it was during the U.S. offensive in Afghanistan to topple the Taliban regime.

European Governments are unimpressed by the findings of the Blair Government's "dossier'' on suspected arms build-up by Iraq.

The President of France, Jacques Chirac, has dismissed the "dossier'' saying it had "no proof, only indications'' that the Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein, possessed weapons of mass destruction.

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