Growing unease among U.S. allies

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, SEPT 17. Less than a week after NATO's declaration of full-throated support to U.S. retaliation against the perpetrators of last Tuesday's terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, there are signs of growing unease in European capitals at the prospect of being pushed into a military action that could jeopardise their relations with the Muslim world. Leaders of the European Union are to meet in Brussels on Friday to discuss the issue amid differences within the Western alliance over what should be the extent of U.S. response.

Several key members of the alliance such as France, Germany and Italy have openly expressed their reservations about giving Washington a carte blanche and even in Britain - the most enthusiastic of U.S. allies in Europe - the Prime Minister, Mr. Tony Blair, is under pressure not to commit the country to an unchartered course. After his initial remarks offering to stand ``shoulder to shoulder'' with the U.S. were widely criticised for implying unqualified backing for U.S. actions Mr. Blair was forced to clarify in Parliament that any action would be based on hard evidence and taken ``in a calm, considered and careful way''.

But there is still widespread concern, including within his own party, that he might end up going the whole hog with America despite the risk of straining Britain's relations with its European neighbours and alienating Muslim countries. Ms. Clare Short, Minister for International Development, today called for a cautious approach even as the Foreign Secretary, Mr. Jack Straw, said that no decision on Britain's military involvement had been taken.

The increasing disquiet in Europe, which commentators say could throw U.S. President, Mr. George W.Bush's efforts to forge an iron-clad Western alliance against the so-called ``rogue'' states into disarray, is in sharp contrast to the hype last Wednesday when NATO, for the first time in its 52-year history, invoked Article 5 of its chapter to pave the way for an automatic European endorsement of America's plans to hunt down the September 11 killers. Article 5 declares that an attack on any member state of NATO is an attack on all - and the terrorist attack on America which, it has interpreted as a ``war'', was thus seen as a ``war'' on all NATO states.

Since then however the mood has changed and both France and Germany which have large Muslim population have warned against any move that might seem like an attack on the Islamic world. Some of the language which has been used in Washington in the past few days such as calling the impending ``war'' against terrorists a ``crusade'' and attaching a ``Islamic'' tag to international terrorism has heightened fears of a ``clash'' with Islamic countries. The French Prime Minister, Mr. Lionel Jospin, has said that solidarity with America does not deprive his country of ``our sovereignty and to make up our own minds''. He made clear that ``we are not at war against Islam or the Arab- Muslim world''. The French Defence Minister, Mr. Alain Richard, has also sounded a note of caution saying it is necessary to ensure that whatever action is taken does not ``provoke other elements of instability''. French MPs have been quoted as warning against what might look like a ``modern-day crusade'' against the Arab world. With Presidential elections due next year, French politicians are reported to be keen not to alienate the country's nearly six million Muslims.

In Germany, both the Foreign Minister, Mr. Joscha Fischer, and the Defence Minister, Mr. Rudolf Charping, have called for restraint and the country's Social Democrat president, Mr. Johannes Rau, has suggested a ``level headed response and, if possible, a political solution''. ``In no other European country can there be quite so much hand-wringing about what is to unfold,'' The Daily Telegraph reported today as the U.S. prepared for ``war''. Italy is the latest to join the growing calls for a restrained response. Russia has already indicated its unwillingness to allow its former Central Asian states to be used for military operations against Afghanistan. The talk of targeting Iraq and other ``rogue'' Muslim states has particularly caused unease raising fears of foreign policy implications vis-a- vis West Asia. Even staunch advocates of a strong no-nonsense battle against terrorists are disturbed by the coded anti-Islamic and somewhat racist rhetoric pitting the western ``civilised'' world against the ``rest''.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : International
Previous : Arab grievances lend to conspiracy theories
Next     : World Bank, IMF meetings cancelled