Posted on 03/11/2003 6:47:57 AM PST by areafiftyone
TOKYO (AP) -- Japan upped diplomatic pressure on Mexico Tuesday to help push through a U.S.-backed war resolution, as it tries to pull in key votes on the U.N. Security Council.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi urged the adoption of a March 17 ultimatum for Iraq to disarm or face war, telling Mexican President Vincente Fox that international divisions were putting the United Nations authority at stake, according to a statement released by the Foreign Ministry here.
"If the international community is divided, it will not only benefit Iraq but also bring into grave doubt the United Nations' authority and its practicality," he told Fox in a phone call Tuesday.
Fox - who has been seeking a last-minute compromise among the sharply divided council - acknowledged the importance of a unified message but refused to take sides.
"Mexico is taking an independent position and is not leaning to either side," Fox said.
The U.N. Security Council remains bitterly divided over the newly revised draft resolution that would set the ultimatum. It is co-sponsored by the United States, Britain and Spain - and strongly opposed by France, Russia, China and Germany.
Washington had wanted a vote as early as Tuesday, but with France and Russia threatening to veto the current draft resolution, and without the minimum nine "yes" votes, it held up action in the council.
Though Japan does not currently hold a seat on the 15-member council, it has joined the intense lobbying behind the scenes after declaring its support Saturday for the ultimatum.
Koizumi also met with Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Passy visiting in Tokyo Tuesday to restate their mutual support for the U.S.-back position.
Tokyo has contacted council members, including undecided Pakistan, Chile, Mexico, Guinea, Cameroon, with phone calls in the past 24 hours.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/newstmpl=story&ncid=584&e=1&cid=584&u=/nm/20030311/pl_nm/iraq_bush_dc
"The White House said on Tuesday a U.N. Security Council vote on Iraq (news - web sites) will take place this week and rejected a proposal to extend the deadline for Baghdad to disarm by one month."
"There's room for a little more diplomacy here but not much room and not much time," Fleischer said.
Let's just do it. The longer the delay the more perilous Blair's position.
The uncertainty is killing us and then delay could lead to unneccesary US Armed Forces casulties.
Our new, best friend, Mexico?
After we invade Iraq, we should invade our hostile neighbor to the south and cut the flow of criminal illegal aliens and drugs.
LOL. For right now, let's just overlook that part, ok?
Bush has been very generous in offering friendship to Mexico, Russia, etc. But they only get one chance. How they handle it is up to them.
BS from our "friend" South of the border. There is no neutrality nor independence with the case of Iraq.
To better understand why the contents of the Zimmerman Telegram had such a strong effect on the United States, a brief summary of early 20th Century relations between the U. S., Japan, and Mexico is necessary. In 1895, Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany, astonished by Japan's defeat of China in battle, expressed to the world his expectation of Japan rising in the near future into a leading world power, declaring their presence as the "Yellow Peril." Following the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, the Japanese continued to promote their expansion. Europe considered a clash between Japan and the United States inevitable; these two newly powerful nations, both showing the desire for imperialism, were doomed for collision. With the changes in trade and trade regulation approaching as the United States constructed the Panama Canal, the confrontation seemed near. The Kaiser was pleased by his prediction of the "Yellow Peril" and waited hopefully for the hostilities to break. Having a desire to be involved in the conflict, the Kaiser, in January of 1908, revealed to American Ambassador Charlemagne Tower, that ten thousand Japanese soldiers were within Mexican borders preparing to seize the Panama Canal. Ile U.S. did not respond. Wilhelm fostered the conflict by releasing his information in an interview on October 28, 1908 with the London Daily Telegraph. The public of both the United States and of Europe was shaken hard by the news of the coalition between Mexico and Japan.Source: "Note Taken! An Analysis of The Zimmerman Telegram", Joseph P. Guichet, Loyola University Student Historical Journal, Volume 22, 1990-1991
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