Eight European Leaders Voice Their Support for U.S. on Iraq

LONDON -- In a broad statement supporting the U.S. in its effort to strip Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, eight European leaders signed an op-ed article publicly calling for unity with the U.S. position, further shifting the global political calculus toward support for war.

The article, published in Thursday's Wall Street Journal, was signed by the leaders of Spain, Britain, Italy, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Denmark and Portugal. It comes in the wake of public rebukes delivered by France and Germany that had given hope to the antiwar movement throughout Europe. And it comes after a string of developments in the last few days that have combined to smooth a path toward war.

Just as President Bush was coming under enormous pressure to turn back or at least hold off for months, chief United Nations weapons inspector Hans Blix delivered a surprisingly tough report on Iraqi cooperation. Then Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly softened his position against war. A tough speech by Secretary of State Colin Powell to European economic and political leaders, followed by Mr. Bush's State of the Union address, laid out a U.S. rationale that had been seen as missing. Now the leaders' statement threatens to isolate the Germans and French, both within Europe and the U.N. Security Council.

"Our governments have a common responsibility to face this threat," says the article, which was written for the Journal's editorial pages and appears in several other newspapers in Europe. "Failure to do so would be nothing less than negligent to our own citizens and to the wider world."

It adds that if Iraq isn't disarmed, "The Security Council will lose its credibility and world peace will suffer as a result. We are confident that the Security Council will face up to its responsibilities."

The statement highlights the deep rift among America's allies in Europe, at a time when the continent is struggling for unity as it expands the European Union. The letter particularly takes aim by implication at France, which holds one of five potential vetoes on the Security Council, and which made a renewed common cause with Germany last week by proclaiming its opposition to speedy war.

The article's signatories also mirror the distinction that U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld made in his dismissal of France and Germany last week as "old Europe." Mr. Rumsfeld contrasted these "problem" countries with a "new Europe" that includes U.S. allies among former Soviet bloc countries. Mr. Rumsfeld's characterization drew sharp criticism from France and Germany.

A spokesman for British Prime Minister Tony Blair said that France and Germany weren't asked to sign the op-ed piece. The spokesman declined to comment on why, but the French and German positions clearly are too far apart from the others to be included. When reached Wednesday night, spokesmen for French President Jacques Chirac and the German foreign ministry said they didn't have time to obtain comment.

While the article doesn't outline new positions for the signers, it sets down a public marker on behalf of the U.S. in an increasingly heated debate over its use of power. It may change the dynamic going into meetings Mr. Bush will have in the next two days with both Mr. Blair and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy. Mr. Blair, in particular, is seen as entering those sessions under pressure to back away from support of the U.S.

Now it will be harder for Germany, which takes over chairmanship of the Security Council next month, and France to say that they are speaking for Europe as the showdown with Iraq hits its crucial phase. Italy also announced Wednesday that it will make its military bases available to the U.S. for refueling and other "technical" purposes.

The White House first learned of the plan for the letter from a Spanish official last Friday. A senior U.S. official said that on Saturday, Mr. Berlusconi then mentioned the letter directly to President Bush when they spoke. "We were in receive mode. We were listening," the official said.

The U.S. kept mum about the plan, and a senior U.S. official said the Bush administration had no role in crafting or coaching the letter. But Bush aides were ecstatic at the development. "It's gratifying to have Europeans standing up for a principle," the official said.

An aide to Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar said his office, as well as those of the British and Italian prime ministers, were contacted early last week by the editorial page of The Wall Street Journal with the request to contribute an article. The idea, the aide said, was for the leaders to explain their point of view on Iraq to world opinion, and to "clarify differences" with France and Germany.

The aide said that Mr. Aznar immediately contacted Mr. Blair, a close political ally. Mr. Aznar's office drew up an outline, passing it on for the British to draft the article, as they were native English speakers. The two leaders agreed that Mr. Aznar would invite the Portuguese and Italians to join in, while Mr. Blair would invite the central European leaders, as well as the Danish and Dutch prime ministers. The Dutch declined, because they were in the middle of a change of government after recent elections. President Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic joined in Wednesday night, his spokesman said, after phone calls from the Czech ambassador to the U.S. in Washington.

"We facilitated the letter from the eight European leaders. Aznar and Blair were the principal drivers of this letter, and we were very pleased and delighted that they chose to go with The Wall Street Journal," said a spokeswoman for the Journal.

In the op-ed piece, the eight leaders pay tribute to the U.S. role in protecting Europe from Nazism and Communism. "The transatlantic relationship must not become a casualty of the current Iraqi regime's persistent attempts to threaten world security," they write. They then warn that success in battling terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction now depends on "unwavering determination and firm international cohesion."

In most of the countries whose leaders signed the article, public opinion polls have so far showed strong opposition to the war, especially without Security Council backing. Some of the leaders who signed -- especially Mr. Blair, who is sending more than 30,000 troops to the Gulf -- have a big political stake in securing explicit U.N. support. A recent poll showed 77% of Britons oppose attacking Iraq without U.N. approval. Most members of Mr. Blair's ruling Labour Party, and some in his cabinet, also object to an attack without U.N. backing.

Mr. Aznar faces crucial regional and municipal elections on May 25 that are seen as a litmus test for general elections in 2004. In Spain, polls show about 80% opposition to a war without U.N. backing. For Spain and other countries not providing troops, however, the issue could prove less sensitive than in the U.K.

France recently said it saw "no justification" for war and hinted that it might use its Security Council veto to block U.N. backing. Many analysts believe, however, that France will ultimately agree to a Security Council resolution, and will even play some military role. If the U.S. were to act without the U.N., the influence of the Security Council -- and therefore of France -- would be diminished. And if France weren't part of the coalition, it would have no voice in the post-war settlement in Iraq.

Responding Wednesday to President Bush's State of the Union speech, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said in a television interview that he was "delighted" by Mr. Bush's promise that the U.S. would supply new evidence of Iraq's weapons programs to the Security Council on Feb. 5. Mr. de Villepin said France has been requesting that for weeks, and it would allow an informed decision on whether war is necessary.

"It is, you know, very important that the international community remains unified on this question," Mr. de Villepin said.

Nevertheless, France is among North Atlantic Treaty Organization members blocking a U.S. request to fill in for U.S. troops sent from Europe to the Gulf, and to send surveillance aircraft and Patriot missiles to defend Turkey in the event of war. Already blocked once, the plans didn't make it to the table Wednesday at a meeting of the alliance's policy-making North Atlantic Council, after the 19 allies failed to put it on the agenda in private talks Tuesday.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder also welcomed Mr. Bush's promise to produce more evidence that Iraq retains chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, saying it should help give weapons inspectors a "solid foundation" for their work. However, Mr. Schroeder has already ruled out either voting for or participating in military action against Iraq.

-- Carla Anne Robbins in Washington and Carlta Vitzthum in Madrid contributed to this article.

Offering Unity

The eight European leaders who signed an article supporting the U.S. in tough action on Iraq.

Strategery, LOL, I told nay sayers at work that tried to tell me during the Presidental Election that Bush was dumb.

Well now I give them hell, Bush is HUGELY INTELLIGENT and knows how to let things develop to his advantage and to the advantage of the United States.

BUSH, RUMMY, and WOLF against the World, LOL.

"And they are also realizing that the Arab presence in the Euro countries is becoming more and more of a menace! "

I was thinking the spanish and portugues probably knew this better than any other country that signed this document, given their centuries of moorish occupation.

Here's how CNN treats the story:

In an open letter from their leaders published in newspapers around the world, 8 smaller European nations showed their support for the United States' pitch for military action against Iraq. But Europe's heavyweights France and Germany, members of the United Nations Security Council, remain opposed to war and want to see U.N. weapons inspectors spend more time in Iraq looking for weapons of mass destruction. link

Britain, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, ALL against the Franco-German lovefest, representing maybe 100 million more people.

France and Germany have good reason to be against this war.

Somebody's been veeeeery veeeery naughty.

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Name/Title	Jose Maria Aznar, prime minister of Spain	Silvio Berlusconi, prime minister of Italy	Tony Blair, prime minister of Britain	J.M. Durao Barroso, prime minister of Portugal
Age	49	66	49	46
Took Office	1996	1994, again in 2001	1997	2002
Political Party	Popular Party	Forza Italia	Labour Party	Social Democratic Party
Current Term Ends	2004	2006	2006	2006
Name/Title	Vaclav Havel, president of Czech Republic	Peter Medgyessy, prime minister of Hungary	Leszek Miller, prime minister of Poland	A.E. Rasmussen, prime minister of Denmark
Age	66	60	56	50
Took Office	1993	2002	2001	2001
Political Party	Social Democratic Party	Hungarian Socialist Party	Democratic Left Alliance	Liberal Party
Current Term Ends	February	2005	2005	2005

Leader (U.S.)