Posted on 02/08/2003 9:47:15 AM PST by Mark Felton
Edited on 02/08/2003 9:51:40 AM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
MUNICH, Germany (AP) -- In a jab at major U.S. allies, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Saturday countries such as France and Germany that favor giving Iraq another chance to disarm are undermining what slim chance may exist to avoid war.
"There are those who counsel that we should delay preparations" for war against Iraq. "Ironically, that approach could well make war more likely, not less, because delaying preparations sends a signal of uncertainty," Rumsfeld said in the opening address at an international conference on security policy.
President Bush said he will not wait much longer before moving against Saddam Hussein, declaring in his weekly radio address that the Iraqi leader is wasting a last opportunity to come clean.
Rumsfeld said "there is no chance" Saddam will disarm voluntarily or flee his country if given yet another opportunity to comply with the U.N. Security Council resolution from November that demands Iraq's complete disarmament.
Thousands more American forces are converging on the Persian Gulf region in anticipation of a decision by Bush, within days or weeks, to invade Iraq and oust Saddam. Also, Turkey's top civilian and military leaders reportedly agreed Saturday to let the United States send 38,000 troops to the country to open a northern front should there be war with Iraq.
On Munich's snowy streets, an estimated 14,000 people staged protests against U.S. policy on Iraq. "Today Munich says yes to peace and no to war," said Roman Catholic Bishop Engelbert Siebler.
Rumsfeld said Saddam has time to avert war but should not be given another U.N. reprieve.
"We all hope for a peaceful resolution," Rumsfeld said at the 39th Munich Conference on Security, which attracted lawmakers, policy officials, military leaders and private analysts from the United States, Europe and Asia.
"But the one chance for a peaceful resolution is to make clear that free nations are prepared to use force if necessary - that the world is united and, while reluctant, is willing to act."
In response to Rumsfeld's remarks, German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer made an impassioned plea for patience with Iraq and said the German public sees no justification for going to war.
"We must not accept the logic of a military campaign," Fischer said. "We must give the inspectors more time."
In Berlin, a German government official said his country is working with France on "specific peaceful alternatives to a military solution." The German magazine Der Spiegel reported that the French-German plan includes placing U.N. troops across Iraq, conducting reconnaissance flights over the country and tripling the number of U.N. weapons inspectors.
Bush said in his broadcast from the White House that Saddam "was given a final chance. He is throwing away that chance."
Sergei Ivanov, the Russian defense minister whose government opposes early military action against Iraq, told the Munich conference the main focus should be on fighting international terrorism of all kinds.
Ivanov did not mention Iraq. He and Rumsfeld met later for a one-on-one session that included a discussion of the way ahead in Afghanistan, including the training of a national army.
The split over Iraq among the United States, Britain and numerous other European countries on the one hand and Germany, France and Russia on the other has caused severe strains in diplomatic relations.
Some of the harshest words came from Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who, with Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., led a U.S. congressional delegation to the conference.
McCain hammered France and Germany for blocking a NATO effort to plan for ways of defending alliance Turkey from potential attacks by Iraq in the event of war. Turkey has requested such assistance, and the United States is strongly in favor of it. The Turks want Patriot anti-missile batteries, surveillance planes and other defensive help.
McCain accused the Germans and French of "calculated self-interest." He said their actions had caused a "terrible injury" to NATO and exposed their "vacuous posturing."
NATO officials are to meet Monday in an attempt to resolve the conflict over defensive aid for Turkey.
In his speech, Rumsfeld left no doubt that Bush is prepared to act soon on Iraq. The Pentagon chief referred to Secretary of State Colin Powell's presentation to the Security Council last week and said it provided "not conjecture but facts" on the Iraqi threat.
"It is difficult to believe there still could be any question in the minds of reasonable people open to the facts before them," Rumsfeld said. "The threat is there to see. ... Really the only question remaining is: what will we do about it?"
He concluded his speech by saying, "The coming days and weeks will tell."
Rumsfeld also criticized the United Nations for making Iraq the head of the U.N. Commission on Disarmament and Libya the head of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights.
"An institution that, with the support or acquiescence of many of the nations represented in this room, would permit" this to happen "seems not to be even struggling to regain credibility," he said with a tone of incredulity.
"That these acts of irresponsibility could happen now, at this moment in history, is breathtaking."
That is very interesting! Sounds like they are scrambling to make nice!
No, no, not them...
Look at a map.
We took out the creeps East of a certain country.
It looks strongly like were are going to take out one creep in particular---West, of this same "certain country"
That particlar country would most logically be "next".
I hope we would then say to the mullahs, "--ok, here's the deal..." Then, if they want grief instead, we could supply it to 'em!!!
Just as some Arab governments fuel anti-American sentiment among their people to divert them from problems at home, so a distinct minority of Western European leaders appears to engage in America-bashing to rally their people and other European elites to the call of European unity. Some European politicians speak of pressure from their "street" for peaceful solutions to international conflict and for resisting American power regardless of its purpose. But statements emanating from Europe that seem to endorse pacifism in the face of evil, and anti-Semitic recidivism in some quarters, provoke an equal and opposite reaction in America.There is an American "street," too, and it strongly supports disarming Iraq, accepts the necessity of an expansive American role in the world to ensure we never wake up to another September 11th, is perplexed that nations with whom we have long enjoyed common cause do not share our urgency and sense of threat in time of war, and that considers reflexive hostility toward Israel as the root of all problems in the Middle East as irrational as it is morally offensive. Entire Speech
I'm usually no McCain fan, but he nailed it in Munich.
I hope that he believes "the right things." I just find his recent "enlightenment" curious.
I think people around here who hate McCain do so because they thought he was a conservative.
Personally, I do not "hate" McCain. I just find his attacks on the constitution repugnant. I think that he has an admirable record otherwise, especially his time in military service.
...they thought he was a conservative. He wasn't and isn't except to the media. He is sort of an eclectic moderate best as I can figure.
I agree with you. The media almost always puts the label "conservative" on Republicans, when that is clearly not the case. Eclectic is certainly an accurate description in his case.
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.