Posted on 10/30/2005 4:36:42 PM PST by stm
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, on the eve of a trip to Washington, said he repeatedly tried to persuade US President George W Bush against invading Iraq.
The Italian leader voiced his unease with the military operation to topple Saddam Hussein during a television interview to be broadcast on Monday - the same day he meets Bush.
Berlusconi is one of Washington's strongest allies but he did not send troops to join the invasion, preferring to despatch troops only after the fall of Baghdad.
"I tried many times to convince the American president not to go to war," Berlusconi was quoted as saying by La7 television network, which recorded the interview.
"I tried to find other avenues and other solutions, even through an activity with the African leader (Libya's Colonel Muammar) Gaddafi. But we didn't succeed and there was the military operation."
One of Berlusconi's staff said he knew Berlusconi had given La7 television an interview, but could not confirm the comments.
Berlusconi pulled about 300 soldiers from Iraq earlier this year as part of a phased withdrawal, leaving about 2,900 troops there.
He is trailing in opinion polls ahead of April elections to centre-left rival, Romano Prodi, who promises to withdraw all Italian forces from Iraq if he is voted into office.
The context of Berlusconi's answers in the interview were unclear since La7 only provided small excerpts.
The Italian leader has been defending himself against accusations in Italy that the country's intelligence agency, possibly after government pressure, passed-off fake documents to Washington used to bolster claims of Iraq's nuclear ambitions.
The documents purported that Iraq was seeking to buy uranium from Niger.
His office has sent out two statements in the past week categorically denying the accusations, made by left-leaning La Repubblica newspaper.
Sismi intelligence agency chief Nicolo Pollari is due to address a closed-door parliamentary panel over the matter on November 3.
Bush cited intelligence that Iraq sought uranium from Africa in his State of the Union address in 2003 before the Iraq war.
The claim fuelled criticism from the husband of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame, whose identity was later leaked, sparking a scandal that led to the indictment of Vice-President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis Libby.
"I have never been convinced that war was the best system to make a country democratic and help it escape dictatorship, even a bloody one," Berlusconi was quoted as saying by La7.
"I have never been convinced that war was the best system to make a country democratic and help it escape dictatorship, even a bloody one," Berlusconi was quoted as saying by La7."
Can someone with better history sense tell me if there has ever been a democracy born without violence? Seems to me that all the ones I'm familiar with were born of war or revolution.
At least he makes the trains run on time.
Huh? Isn't obvious by now that Iraq is moving in the right direction, far better off without Saddam?
Hmmmm...does Mussolini ring a bell?
Yes, that American Revolution sure turned out terribly, eh, Berlusconi?
When are the Italian elections -- this smacks of someone up for reelection that doesn't want to be tied to the War in Iraq! He waited until now to come out with this crap? Give me a break!
So, I voted against it before I voted for it and sent troops. Got it.
Not when you are up for election with an electorate that doesn't support the war.
G.W., Blair, and Howard didn't distance themselves and won re-election. Aznar's party probably would have won in Spain if not for the Madrid attacks at last minute, as well as scamble to explain them inadequately to the public. Berlusconi evidently hasn't learned the lesson that you cannot straddle this issue. You have to be resolute in support, they won't respect you otherwise. Doesn't mean they'll like you, doesn't mean they'll support the war, but people grudingly support principle over weakness.
Puhleeze. Italy also seems to have been playing both sides of this game. The French intelligence agent involved in the Wilson documents was actually an Italian who worked for France. I'm not sure Italy was as officially involved with Saddam as France was, but they were certainly not staying out of it because of their high-minded principles.
With allies like this, who needs enemies?
Right. The Italian SISMI intelligence agency was used to leak the Nigerien forgery. Berlusconi knew exactly what his intelligence service was doing. He was pro Iraq war before the war, during the war, and he's trying to cover his tracks now.
Remember, this was spoken by the leader of a country whose last military victory was to take Ethiopia from Haile Selassie in 1936. Italy used tanks, modern aircraft, and chemical weapons against a primitive, third world, rag-tag army who even then, gave the Italians some bad moments.
The Italian government is typically a coalition du jour made up of splinter groups covering the gamut of the political spectrum.
Any experienced player must be a master of compromise and the stab in the back.
Regards,
GtG
Funding terrorists in Iraq with millions to ransom a few feminazis wasn't enough, eh, Berlusconi?
Well it seems like the World benefited from Italy being in the losers column of WW2.
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