The US, The UN and Iraq

The Bush administration's plans for a northern front against Iraq reached a critical point today, as Turkish leaders ruled out a deal to allow American combat troops to use their country without agreement first on a multibillion dollar economic aid package.[/[/b]quote]

Optional titles to this old morality play:

HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE FOREIGN PEOPLE

FOREIGN AFFAIRS: A PRIMER

IF IT WORKED IN DALLAS, IT'LL WORK WITH THE TURKARS

THE TRAITOROUS EUROS WHO COULDN'T FIND IT IN THEIR CALLOUS HEARTS TO DEFEND DEMOCRATIC TURKEY AND SO PUT NATO AT RISK

EU Warns Iraq It Faces 'Last Chance'
8 minutes ago Add World - AP to My Yahoo!


By BARRY RENFREW, Associated Press Writer

BRUSSELS, Belgium - European leaders, trying to end their bitter dispute over Iraq, warned Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) on Monday he faces a "last chance" to disarm, but gave no deadline and said U.N. weapons inspectors must have more time to finish their work ...
... That was seen as a setback for Germany, which has opposed war under any circumstances.

"Baghdad should have no illusions. It must disarm and cooperate immediately and fully. The Iraqi regime alone will be responsible for the consequences if it continues to flout the will of the international community and does not take this last chance," the leaders said ...

After Bush Meet, Latvian Predicts Iraq Developments
Mon Feb 17, 4:26 PM ET Add Top Stories - Reuters to My Yahoo!


By Patricia Wilson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - After meeting President Bush (news - web sites), Latvia's leader said on Monday there would be developments in the Iraq crisis within weeks and played down a split in Europe over how to disarm Baghdad.

"The rift between Tony Blair and the British public over war against Iraq is today confirmed by an opinion poll which shows for the first time that a clear majority of British voters now oppose a military attack." http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,897852,00.html

"[And]the Germans noted with satisfaction that the phrase "time is running out" had been removed from the final statement.

The French President, Jacques Chirac, said the EU's mini-crisis over Iraq appeared to have been resolved, but he made it clear France was still opposed to a second UN Security Council resolution authorising the use of force.

For his part, the UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair, insisted the statement sent a strong signal to Baghdad that this was Iraq's final opportunity to disarm peacefully.

"Iraq will be disarmed of weapons of mass destruction whether it is done peacefully or by conflict," Mr Blair said." http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2773877.stm

"We want to achieve this peacefully. It is clear that this is what the people of Europe want."

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal has said that any unilateral military action by the US would appear as an "act of aggression".

"Independent action in this, we don't believe is good for the United States," he told the BBC's world affairs editor John Simpson at a meeting of the Arab League foreign ministers in Cairo.

"It would encourage people to think... that what they're doing is a war of aggression rather than a war for the implementation of the United Nations resolutions."

Getting rid of the Ba'th regime in Iraq has been the cause of my life for almost a quarter of a century. Precisely when the United States found in the totalitarian regime a worthy ally to stem the tide of fundamentalist Khomeini forces in 1979, the leftist movement to which I belonged discovered, so belatedly, it was in the jaws of a rapacious Leviathan....

Iraq's totalitarian system has been a menace to its own people, the region, and the world at large. Leaving the monster in its place is an invitation to future catastrophe. This may sound like an endorsement of the war camp. Not at all. Warmongering is as shortsighted as philanthropic pacifism. The former deliberately neglects the possibilities of a political solution to the problem; the latter does not recognize the existence of the problem. Both are locked in an ideological cage.

Warmongering comes largely from the evangelical right, i.e., the new conservatism that imposes a clash-of-civilizations formula on world politics. The tragic events of 9/11 provided an ideal backdrop to Donald Rumsfeld's "leaning forward" argument for aggression. Perhaps the swift success scored by the United States in removing the fundamentalist Taliban regime was--and still is--a catalyst for further experiments in "surgical" removals....

Such continued pressure, a political onslaught, should be backed by threat of force. A few warning shots may well be sufficient. This would help split the ruling group and embolden the people to take matters into their hands. A painfully slow process of regime disintegration has already been going on, and this political pressure would hasten the process along. An invasion, on the other hand, would wrench matters out of Iraqi hands and would risk untold consequences.

In this regional context, the European Union reiterates its firm belief in the need to invigorate the peace process in the Middle East and to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

We continue to support early implementation of the road map endorsed by the quartet [the European Union, the United States, Russia and the United Nations]. Terror and violence must end. So must settlement activity. Palestinian reforms must be speeded up and, in this respect, President Arafat's statement that he will appoint a prime minister is a welcome step in the right direction.