- WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Laying
bare a split with France, President Bush said on Monday he was disappointed
with its role in blocking NATO from planning Turkish defenses in the event
of an Iraq war and said it would hurt the alliance.
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- Bush called the move "short sighted" and urged
the government of French President Jacques Chirac to reconsider.
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- "I am disappointed that France would block NATO
from helping a country like Turkey prepare. I don't understand that decision.
It affects the alliance in a negative way," Bush told reporters as
he met Australian Prime Minister John Howard, a staunch ally in Bush's
disarmament campaign against Iraq.
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- Although Bush's top security aides have criticized France
and Germany for leading efforts to delay a U.N. decision on whether to
go to war with Iraq, the president had previously confined his remarks
to urging unity and continued diplomacy.
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- On Monday France, Germany and Belgium blocked NATO from
preparing for fellow-member Turkey's defense for a possible war with neighboring
Iraq. They argued that making preparations for a possible conflict could
suggest they had given up on diplomatic efforts at the United Nations to
avert war.
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- The move has sparked one of the worst disputes in the
history of the transatlantic alliance.
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- It also foreshadows a possible split in the U.N. Security
Council, where France has a veto, as Bush prepares to push for a decision
on possible war following a report on Friday by the chief U.N. weapons
inspector in Iraq.
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- "France has been a longtime friend of the United
States. We've got a lot in common. But I think their decision at NATO is
short sighted, in my judgment. I hope they'll reconsider," Bush said.
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- Bush was also unimpressed with Iraq's agreement to unconditionally
allow overflights by U-2 surveillance planes, a key demand of U.N. weapons
inspectors.
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- "Iraq needs to disarm, and the reason why we even
need to fly U-2 flights is because they're not disarming. This is a man
who is trying to stall for time. He's trying to play a diplomatic game,"
Bush said, referring to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
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- Administration officials said they had been expecting
some last-minute concessions from Iraq before arms inspectors deliver to
the Security Council on Friday a crucial report on Baghdad's compliance
with disarmament demands.
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- BUSH WARNS OF HUMAN SHIELDS
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- The president also leveled a new charge at the Iraqi
leader, accusing him of using civilians as human shields.
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- "In violation of the Geneva Conventions, Saddam
Hussein is positioning military forces within civilian populations in order
to shield his military and blame coalition forces for civilian casualties
that he has caused,"
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- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said France, Germany
and Belgium made a mistake over defending Turkey but that the move would
not delay a possible attack. He said planning would go on outside NATO
if necessary.
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- Rumsfeld told reporters at a Pentagon news conference
with Howard the dispute in Brussels did not signal that NATO might be disintegrating
in political differences after the Cold War.
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- "At the moment what it means is that three European
countries are isolated from the rest of the NATO alliance. Sixteen countries
-- two North American and 14 in Europe -- don't agree with those three
countries," Rumsfeld said.
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- Secretary of State Colin Powell said NATO was obliged
to make sure Turkey was not at risk.
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- Rumsfeld said all that NATO had been asked to do was
plan for the use of radar aircraft, chemical and biological weapon-detection
units, and Patriot air-defense missiles to protect Turkey, a neighbor of
Iraq.
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- "I think it's a mistake (to reject the request)
and what we have to do for the United States is make sure that that planning
does go forward, preferably within NATO but if not bilaterally or multiple
bilaterals," Rumsfeld said.
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- CRITICAL DIPLOMACY
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- Germany and France have led resistance to U.S. plans
to use force if needed to ensure Iraq holds no illegal arms.
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- The split in NATO they sparked comes on top of disagreement
over a Franco-German suggestion that the United Nations, as an alternative
to war, increase the number of U.N. arms inspectors in Iraq and back them
with U.N. troops.
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- The United States dismissed the proposal as a diversion
and the chief U.N. inspector, Hans Blix, said in Athens Monday the main
problem was with Iraqi compliance, not with the number of inspectors he
can deploy.
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- In the face of coordinated opposition from France, Germany
and Russia, Bush has opened a critical week of diplomacy. In addition to
the Howard meeting, Bush consulted by phone with Danish Prime Minister
Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
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- With a public at home wary about the prospect of war
and uneasiness abroad, Bush has support from Italy, Britain, Spain Portugal,
Denmark, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and 10 eastern European nations
as well as Australia.
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- Even though his government has come under fire at home
for its enthusiastic support of Washington's stance, Howard has already
sent troops to join U.S. and British forces in the Gulf preparing for a
possible war with Iraq.
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