- WASHINGTON (UPI) -- France
is no longer an ally of the United States and the NATO alliance "must
develop a strategy to contain our erstwhile ally or we will not be talking
about a NATO alliance" the head of the Pentagon's top advisory board
said in Washington Tuesday.
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- Richard Perle, a former assistant secretary of defense
in the Reagan administration and now chairman of the Pentagon's Policy
Advisory Board, condemned French and German policy on Iraq in the strongest
terms at a public seminar organized by Iraqi exiles and American Middle
East and security officials.
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- But while dismissing Germany's refusal to support military
action against Iraq as an aberration by "a discredited chancellor,"
Perle warned that France's attitude was both more dangerous and more serious.
-
- "France is no longer the ally it once was,"
Perle said. And he went on to accuse French President Jacques Chirac of
believing "deep in his soul that Saddam Hussein is preferable to any
likely successor."
-
- French leaders have insisted the country will oppose
any military action against Iraq without a second resolution by the United
Nations Security Council, where it holds one of five crucial veto powers.
Last November France did vote for Resolution 1441, which promised "serious
consequences" if Iraq did not cooperate with U.N. weapons inspectors
verifying that Iraq has indeed dismantled its programs for chemical, biological
and nuclear weapons.
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- "I have long thought that there were forces in France
intent on reducing the American role in the world. That is more troubling
than the stance of a German chancellor, who has been largely rejected by
his own people," Perle said, referring to the sharp electoral defeat
suffered by Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's party in state elections Sunday.
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- Although he is not an official of the Bush administration,
Perle's position as the Pentagon's senior civilian adviser gives his harsh
remarks a quasi-official character and reflects the growing frustration
in the White House and Pentagon with the French and German reluctance to
support their U.S. and British allies.
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- "Very considerable damage has already been done
to the Atlantic community, including NATO, by Germany and France,"
Perle said.
-
- "But in the German case, the behavior of the Chancellor
is idiosyncratic. He tried again to incite pacifism, and this time failed
in Sunday's elections in Hesse and Lower Saxony. His capacity to do damage
is now constrained. Chancellor Schroeder is now in a box, and the Germans
will recover their equilibrium."
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- Perle went on to question whether the United States should
ever again seek the endorsement of the U.N. Security Council on a major
issue of policy, stressing that "Iraq is going to be liberated, by
the United States and whoever wants to join us, whether we get the approbation
of the U.N. or any other institution."
-
- "It is now reasonable to ask whether the United
States should now or on any other occasion subordinate vital national interests
to a show of hands by nations who do not share our interests," he
added.
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