- SEA ISLAND, Georgia
-- U.S. President George W. Bush pushed for greater NATO involvement in
Iraq on Wednesday, but the idea was received coolly by leaders attending
the G-8 summit of leading industrialized nations.
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- Following breakfast in Sea Island, Ga., with his chief
Iraq ally, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Bush said he wanted the 26
members of NATO to do more in Iraq.
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- "We believe NATO ought to be involved [in Iraq],"
Bush said. He added he understood there were "a lot of constraints,"
but said he still thought it was possible to "work with friends to
continue and maybe even expand what exists."
-
- Bush was seeking to extend Tuesday's international agreement
concerning the UN resolution on Iraq sovereignty into other areas by getting
NATO to agree to help with the training of Iraq's army.
-
- But French President Jacques Chirac poured cold water
on any hopes France might contribute.
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- "I do not believe it's NATO's purpose to intervene
in Iraq nor do I believe it would be relevant or even well understood by
people in Iraq or abroad," Chirac said.
-
- Chirac said any broader NATO involvement in Iraq should
be raised first by the new Iraqi government, not by foreigners. "That
being said, it is a hypothetical question and it can only be examined,
in my view, if the sovereign Iraqi government were to express, in no uncertain
terms, that it was something they wanted."
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- His sentiments were echoed by Canadian Prime Minister
Paul Martin, who said there would be "no further [Canadian] troop
movements" in relation to Iraq.
-
- Martin said that NATO was already involved in Iraq through
the Polish contingent of troops. He also said that Canada is contributing
in the region by leading the UN Stabilization Force in Afghanistan and
by training Jordanian police.
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- He did not, however, rule out categorically any further
NATO involvement.
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- "[It's] up to the new Iraqi government to make these
requests," Martin said, adding that if such a request were made NATO
members would "take a look."
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- - Written by CBC News Online staff
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- Copyright © CBC 2004 http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/06/09/troops040609
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