Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

France Warns Against War, Hints at Veto
Reuters ^

Posted on 02/07/2003 8:44:22 AM PST by RCW2001

Fri February 7, 2003 10:58 AM ET
By Tom Heneghan

PARIS (Reuters) - French President Jacques Chirac insisted on Friday there was still an alternative to war in Iraq while a senior official hinted Paris might use its veto to block any U.N. resolution authorising a military intervention there.

Chirac reiterated his stand, already the most openly anti-war among the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, one day after President Bush declared "the game is over" for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

In a further sign of tension, a presidential aide told the newspaper Le Monde that France was ready to veto any pro-war resolution submitted without clear evidence that the U.N. arms inspections had failed and Iraq presented a serious threat.

Russia, another veto-wielding Security Council member, joined France on Friday in rejecting any U.N. war resolution right now and permanent member China said it agreed with France that all efforts should be made to avoid war.

"We haven't gone to the end, far from it...there is still an alternative to war," Chirac said after meeting Finnish Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen in Paris.

"I've spoken to numerous foreign leaders and can see that this view is widely shared," added Chirac, who has been telephoning leaders of states on the 15-seat Security Council to sound out their stand on any vote.

"If there were to be any particular initiative taken, notably war, there would of course have to be a new debate by the Security Council," he said in a clear reference to the risk of unilateral action outside of the U.N. framework.

AIDE EVOKES DE GAULLE

An unnamed Chirac aide told Le Monde that France was ready to risk serious strains in its relations with pro-war powers United States and Britain to defend its view that only the United Nations has the right to declare a war on Iraq.

"If the question were put today, France would say no to a resolution authorising the use of force," said the aide, described by Le Monde as "an authorized commentator of presidential thinking."

France would maintain this position "as long as there is no patent failure of the inspection system and the inspectors do not say they have been hindered in their mission and an imminent danger is not demonstrated," he said.

"If we don't agree, well then, we won't agree," the aide added. "And that won't be the end of anything, just like de Gaulle's decision to pull out of NATO or his Phnom Penh speech did not mean the end of French-American relations. Those ties have a thick skin."

During a visit to Cambodia in 1966, de Gaulle delivered a speech criticizing the U.S. war in neighboring Vietnam.

French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin spoke out on Thursday against any Security Council resolution authorising war for the time being. The U.S. and Britain have said they would support a resolution authorising an attack.

NO PREPARATIONS FOR WAR

Earlier on Friday, Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie insisted NATO should not begin boosting Turkey's defenses in case of a war in Iraq and said France would not agree to do so when the alliance reconsiders the issue early next week.

On Thursday, NATO postponed until next week a decision on measures to protect Turkey but Secretary-General George Robertson expressed confidence that those blocking it -- France, Germany and Belgium -- would come around to support the plan.

Asked by Radio France Internationale if NATO could reach agreement on war preparations early next week, as Robertson had predicted, Alliot-Marie said: "That is not our view at all."

Wednesday's presentation by Secretary of State Colin Powell to the U.N. Security Council outlining Washington's case against Baghdad "only reinforced our view of the role of the U.N. inspectors. The inspectors must...do their work."

"For us, today, we are in the inspection phase. We are not in a phase of preparing for war," Alliot-Marie said.

Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, on a visit to India, told students in New Delhi that Iraq had to disarm quickly.

"Our approach is to ask Iraq to disarm quickly, to listen to all the pressure from around the world and take the necessary measures so that war can be avoided," he said.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News
KEYWORDS: france; franceisstupid
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-70 last
To: RCW2001
Wah, wah Pierre!

Are these people nuts or something? Or just greedy?

...At this point it's probably a toss-up.

-Regards, T.
61 posted on 02/07/2003 10:31:32 AM PST by T Lady (.Freed From the Dimocratic Shackles since 1992)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: RCW2001
Wah, wah Pierre!

Are these people nuts or something? Or just greedy?

...At this point it's probably a toss-up.

-Regards, T.
62 posted on 02/07/2003 10:31:37 AM PST by T Lady (.Freed From the Dimocratic Shackles since 1992)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: jriemer
FRANCE'S NEW FLAG:


63 posted on 02/07/2003 10:35:06 AM PST by 1Old Pro
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Dog Gone
Well, France is essentially out of NATO since DeGaulle had his little force de frappe hissy-fit, so that isn't a big one. Germany, I suspect, may re-examine this issue when Shroeder is gone and the Greens are again marginalized. But at some point they're going to have to choose how to divvy up regional security between the EU and NATO, and my guess is that given the current direction the EU will get the nod. All things pass...
64 posted on 02/07/2003 10:35:36 AM PST by Billthedrill
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 55 | View Replies]

To: Jim Noble
"I think the genetic effects of the European War 1914-1945 were profound. Good point. " You mean any of them worth a damn were killed in the war? Only the weenies were allowed to reproduce and thus the current state of French and German stock?

I think another consideration should be given. I have long thought that the only people of any country worth a damn, immigrated here. Any europeans that love liberty and self reliance ended up here. What is left is that stinking hole of socialism, that is living on the corpse of their civilizations.

65 posted on 02/07/2003 10:39:22 AM PST by Check_Your_Premises
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 48 | View Replies]

To: RCW2001
Hey France:
66 posted on 02/07/2003 10:39:34 AM PST by lawgirl (FREEP Congress- we need Bush's judicial nominees approved!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: steve-b
Blair should have known better after they doublecrossed Powell! Slow Learner perhaps?
67 posted on 02/07/2003 10:54:19 AM PST by PhiKapMom (Bush/Cheney 2004)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 57 | View Replies]

To: Dog Gone
Nor will we accept their premise that only the UN can authorize war. We have not surrendered our sovereignty or authority to act in our national interest to a UN committe with veto power.

Indeed. Bush, to his credit, would go in alone if he had to. This is one of the things that makes France so pathetic.

68 posted on 02/07/2003 12:01:52 PM PST by Zack Nguyen
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Zack Nguyen
Bush is having hard time articulating his demands. Bush should not be on the tube every night flexing muscles. We can simply go it alone, and make a parking lot out of Iraq; however, do we want to that. What is needed now is quit diplomacy by Colin Powell to demonstrate to other leaders that a defeated tyrant dictator with lots of mony/hate/WMD is more then cabale and willing to give this deadful materials to the barbaric Moslem terrirists to cause havoc around the world.
69 posted on 02/07/2003 12:34:45 PM PST by philosofy123
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 68 | View Replies]

To: RCW2001
This is a particularly outrageous action when one considers that the only reason they have a veto is the absurd fiction that they were a co-equal partner with the United States, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain in defeating the Axis.

It's like giving a permanent veto to Norway. Hell, the Norwegians, who put up a better fight and hanged Quisling by the neck until dead right after their liberation, were more deserving than the French, who rolled over quickly and let Petain off with a prison term.

70 posted on 02/08/2003 10:05:56 AM PST by steve-b
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-70 last

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.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson