Emergency NATO Meeting Fails to Break Deadlock

Associated Press ^ | February 10, 2003 | Paul Ames

[AntiGuv]

BRUSSELS, Belgium - An emergency NATO meeting called after France, Germany and Belgium again blocked a U.S. request to start planning Turkey's defense in the event of war in Iraq ended Monday with no breakthrough, diplomats said.

The unscheduled consultations — convened after Turkey invoked NATO's mutual defense treaty — were to resume on Tuesday, diplomats and NATO sources said on condition of anonymity.

"The majority of the NATO countries reiterated the urgency for NATO to take a decision," Secretary-General Lord Robertson said. "Unfortunately we're not yet at the stage where we can achieve consensus."

He said negotiations were continuing informally and the North Atlantic Council, NATO's political body, would resume on Tuesday.

"It is a matter of enormous consequence for this alliance and therefore people are taking it very seriously," he said.

[Redleg Duke]

What do they after to offer beyond over-rated wines and stinky cheese?

[tomahawk]

The French, Germans and Belgians have entered into a new alliance, with Saddam Hussein. This is a concerted effort by them and Saddam to keep him in power. They are traitors to NATO, seeking to keep Saddam in power to build his Weapons of Mass Murder, which he will hide from any inspectors. They are now enemy states, as far as I am concerned.

[wimpycat]

They'll just keep talking until the shooting starts, at which point the French objections (with their tagalong buddies the Belgians and Germans) will be moot.

[dfwgator]

One of the liberals unwritten creeds is "if you are to kill somebody, just make sure they are the same race as you." Hence, they had no problem with bombing Serbia, but heaven forbid if the target is a non-White population, then that's when they suddenly become "anti-war."

[Dog Gone]

They're signatories to the NATO charter mutual-defense pact but withdrew from the integrated command structure four decades ago.

France rejoined in the 1990s. For what it's worth today...

[BlessedBeGod]

Move out of Germany? Why? Occupy them forever...along with Iraq.

Looks like France needs to be occupied, too.

[zip]

"Sacre Bleu".

Are you sure that isn't spelled "scared blue"?

[Dr. Eckleburg]

Mais oui!

[Edmund Burke]

Saddam Hussein is a fellow member of the Socialist International along with Schroder's SDP and Britain's Labour Party. To them, Hussein is a comrade.

[AntiGuv]

I was under the impression that France had reengaged with limited participation in SHAPE and CINCEUR after 1996, but that they had not moved beyond the initial stages. To answer the other question, I don't think France should exercise anything more than limited observer status within NATO military decisions so long as they remain apart from the military command structure.

[Thud]

ping

[Travis McGee]

We're almost there.

[af_vet_rr]

I think this is less of a "The US is splitting NATO apart" and more of a "Germany and France are trying to split NATO apart to eventually prop up the EU's military force". I say let them. Get out of NATO, get out of the UN. Screw `em, let them deal with their problems and pretend we are deaf when they come crawling back.

[AntiGuv]

I agree. This appears all about a Franco-German design to sweep away the NATO infrastructure so that their EDF can become the foremost European Union military force.

[cake_crumb]

Yep : Germany, France and Belguim put the screws to Turkey again. Turkey has called for protection under Article 4. The US is talking about freezing $$$ whaich had been earmarked for German bases, and cutting back on our European troops. The REAL NATO allies will send assets to protect Turkey.

The Axis of Weasles strikes again. They broke trust. They have proven they can't be depended upon to protect their fellow members of the NATO alliance. Let's kick 'em out of NATO.

[sam_paine]

What do they after to offer beyond over-rated wines and stinky cheese?

Duvel and Chimay are going to be hard to do without......

[cake_crumb]

"Why do I get the feeling that these countries just want money, concessions, and goodies from us to shut up.

"Or is the whole deal only to save worldwide socialism from a major body blow?"

6 to one, a half dozen to the other.

[Jumper]

Chuckles, me chuckles:) Yes, it is funny.

France and Germany want to split NATO and give the impression that they want an EDF. But being the good socialists that they are, they will not ever find the money to fund an EDF unless they only pay an equal percentage as other EU members. Besides, the high Euro and unemployment coupled with reeling exports and a massive economic slowdown makes it impossible to even fund these two welfare states' pensions, medical outlays and payments to those not currently working:) France and Germany, along with Belgium (I live in Belgium) is totally bankrupted and higher oil prices will finish them off by year's end - look for conservative wins at the polls.

[Let's Roll]

"If they had known that France would block any moves to retaliate and demand endless meetings before any response, the Russian tanks would have been in Paris before you could say "Sacre Bleu"."

It could still happen. Better the Russkies in charge of the Louvre, Notre Dame etc. than the mooselimbs who will immediately destroy them.

[Churchillspirit]

Heard a nice story from Dick Morris this morning.

Sometime after WW11, De Gaulle told the US he wanted American military out of France. Dean Rusk, Secretary of State at the time, asked for some clarification. Did De Gaulle mean current military or was he also referring to those buried in French cemeteries?

The subject was then closed.

The frogs have short memories.