Posted on 03/18/2003 2:11:54 PM PST by hotpotato
Tue March 18, 2003 04:18 PM ET By Paul Carrel
PARIS (Reuters) - France said Tuesday it could help a U.S.-led military coalition if Iraq used biological or chemical weapons, despite blasting Washington's war ultimatum to Baghdad as unjustified.
The Foreign Ministry said in a short statement there was no change in France's anti-war stance, but added:
"In the event that American forces or those allied to them should face a new situation such as a chemical or biological attack, France would assess the measures of assistance to take in a spirit of friendship and solidarity."
Earlier, President Jacques Chirac made no mention of such an option in a televised address. He denounced Washington's war ultimatum to Iraq as unjustified and warned it put world stability and the future of the Middle East at stake.
Chirac, the strongest anti-war voice in the West, insisted world opinion was against war and argued the United States' unilateral approach could exacerbate future crises.
"Whether it concerns the necessary disarmament of Iraq or the desirable change of the regime in this country, there is no justification for a unilateral decision to resort to force," Chirac said in a short address.
"No matter how events evolve now, this ultimatum challenges our view of international relations. It puts the future of a people, the future of a region and world stability at stake," he said in his first reaction to Bush's ultimatum.
The Foreign Ministry statement came after France's ambassador to the United States, Jean-David Levitte, earlier told CNN the use of chemical and biological weapons by Iraq would "change the situation completely and immediately for the French government."
Levitte said a decision on any French participation in the war would be made by Chirac in such an event.
"We have equipment to fight in these circumstances," he said, not giving details on any possible French role.
WAR NO ANSWER TO SEPT. 11
Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin joined Chirac's salvo against pending military action, stressing that while Paris remained a staunch U.S. ally it viewed war as the wrong response to the Sept. 11 attacks and the global fight against terror.
"For us, this war is not the right response to the attacks of September 11, over which we shared the sense of repulsion and united in solidarity," Raffarin told parliament, adding France remained an ally of Washington despite the disagreement.
"It is dangerous to engage unilaterally these days...What is needed is the unity of the international community," he said.
Despite the likelihood of war, a spokesman for Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said the minister would still probably fly to New York to attend a scheduled U.N. Security Council discussion on Wednesday on disarming Iraq.
The imminence of military action was underlined on Tuesday when witnesses said French diplomatic workers left Baghdad in a car convoy headed for the Jordanian capital, Amman.
Throughout the Iraq crisis, France has consistently argued it opposed Washington's war plans not out of anti-Americanism but from a conviction that the United Nations was the only body authorized to order an attack on a sovereign country.
Now that its veto threat has blocked a Security Council vote and forced the United States and Britain to wage war without a U.N. mandate, France can be expected to stress the central role it sees for U.N. humanitarian aid and reconstruction efforts in an Iraq controlled by the U.S. military, diplomats said.
In an apparent reference to North Korea, which has expelled U.N. nuclear inspectors and reactivated atomic facilities that could reprocess plutonium for bombs, Chirac added:
"This is also a decision that compromises in the future the methods of peaceful resolution of crises linked to the proliferation of arms of mass destruction."
Hey France, since you have not noticed we have some 45 nations with us. The last time I looked that was not a unilateral action.
...or to beg him, "For Gaul's sake, please remove the 'Made in France' labels before firing them!"
Notice that he didn't say which side the French would assist.
We can only hope that they help the Iraqis. The French expertise in surrendering could be invaluable.
We really need a photo here.
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