Posted on 02/04/2003 2:44:07 PM PST by Indy Pendance
LE TOUQUET, France (AP) -- France refused to cave in to intense pressure from Britain Tuesday to support a U.S.-led coalition ready to take quick military action against Iraq.
With Washington saying a war could be weeks away, President Jacques Chirac calmly appealed for patience, expressing unqualified faith in the U.N. inspectors who are searching for banned weapons in Iraq.
"We must let the inspectors do their jobs," Chirac said at a news conference after a summit with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Asked how much time the weapons inspectors should have - weeks or months, he responded: "I can't put a time frame on it. It's up to them to decide."
As to whether France - the leading proponent for a slower, more cautious approach on disarming Iraq - might eventually join a military operation, Chirac said: "We're still far from that ... There is still much to be done in the way of disarmament by peaceful means."
The president declined to comment on what circumstances might compel France to concede that war is the only option.
Chirac is under pressure from all sides. The French public is overwhelmingly anti-war; meanwhile, Britain has suggested that the United Nations would be discredited if it fails to crack down on Iraq. France's position is key, as it holds veto power in the U.N. Security Council.
Blair came to this quiet resort on the English Channel hoping to persuade Chirac to support a second U.N. resolution authorizing military action against Iraq.
President Bush has called for a "coalition of the willing" to back him on Iraq and has said that only "weeks, not months" remain for diplomacy.
Blair supports Bush's stance that U.N. backing might not be necessary. But his government has stressed that it would be better to win Security Council support, which means winning over France.
For the time being, Blair and Chirac agreed to disagree.
"Of course there are the differences that are familiar to people," Blair said - although he cited two common points: "support for the notion of disarming Iraq" and the "belief that this is best pursued through the United Nations."
Britain is sending 35,000 troops to the Persian Gulf to prepare for action. Chirac has insisted repeatedly that the decision on whether to go to war rests with the Security Council - not the United States.
At the news conference, Chirac appeared momentarily exasperated by the barrage of questions on the French position.
Then he joked: "Sometimes I ask myself if this is a game, or if people see me as someone who doesn't understand anything, to whom you have to ask the same question in different ways so that maybe, finally, it will reach his brain."
Chirac declined to comment on whether France would use its veto as one of five permanent members of the Security Council to block a resolution authorizing military action against Iraq. France has hinted it might be willing to do so.
Chirac also said France is waiting to see what Secretary of State Colin Powell and chief U.N. weapons inspectors Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei will say to the Security Council in the coming days.
Powell is set to present evidence Wednesday to the Security Council that Iraq has hidden large caches of weapons of mass destruction from international inspectors and has defied calls to disarm.
Blix and ElBaradei will deliver a progress report to the Security Council on Feb. 14 - seen as a key step that could help swing the diplomatic balance on military action against Iraq.
"We have the inspectors' report coming out on Feb 14. I think we should take account of it very carefully," Blair said at the news conference.
Both leaders said the talks were friendly and cordial, and were eager to stress the areas on which they did agree: cracking down on illegal immigration, or promoting the study of French in British schools and vice versa.
Last week, eight European leaders - including Blair - wrote a statement of support for Bush, indirectly reprimanding France and Germany for mounting pressure against U.S. preparations for war. Germany has said flatly it would not participate in any military operation against Iraq.
Also Tuesday, Australian Prime Minister John Howard gave his strongest hint yet that he is prepared for military strikes to disarm Iraq - even without U.N. backing.
Howard told the Australian parliament that he thought existing U.N. resolutions "provide a sufficient legal basis for military action without the express need for a further resolution."
That seems ... suspicious.. doesn't it? I wonder what their game is...
The Inspector's role is that of a verification monitor, not of a detective ala "Inspector Clusoe". This man is a willing dupe for self-interested reasons. We are not being unilateralists - France is!
Regarding your post, I agree that the US honors single veto power in the UN Security Council. The BEEF, however, is that the French will be voting against the inspectors - because the next UN resolution will go something like this - - -
1) Iraq has failed to submit a complete declaration of WMD in it's possession. -- T or F
2) Iraq has failed to provide unconditional and proactive cooperation with UNMOVIC. -- T or F
3) Iraq has an active concealment and denial program, as related by intelligence shared with the UN Security Council by the US Secretary of State, contrary to provision of UN Resolution 1441. -- T or F
4) Iraq remains in material breach of 16 former resolutions passed by the UN Security Council since 1991. -- F or F
The UN Security Council affirms that all of the foregoing statements are true.
That's all that it needs to say. Period.
Let them vote against it.
Maybe then we can actually get the US out of the UN, and the UN out of the US.
France is the one on the right.
Chirac has always left himself an out, unlike Schroeder who is a silly, stupid man.
France has no teeth to back up its veto, just words.
Like the Ivory Coast Mr. Chirac???
If France, as a member of the Security Council, is going to turn its back on the conditions it insisted on, then France's membership in the Council is a joke.
And give me a break re: your Commie-symp hogwash about Nicaragua.
There was a Monroe Doctrine before there was a UN. A Soviet-sponsored dictatorship in the US' backyard is our business.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
