Russia made clear that it would not pull out of the coalition against terror even if the United States launched a unilateral strike against Iraq. Igor Ivanov, the Foreign Minister, said that Moscow opposed any US strike on Baghdad which would cause turmoil not only in the Gulf but throughout the Middle East. A strike would deal âa serious blowâ to the coalition. But he stopped short of any threat to cut off Russian help for the anti-terrorist campaign, which he insisted Russia supported. âIt would not be expedient to issue any ultimatums to say that we would withdraw from the coalition,â he said. âParticipation in this coalition is not some present or gift to give to someone, but in our own interests. We have common positions with Britain on this.â
That's because the bastards started blowing up Moscow before they got to New York. All the Russians want is their old arms bills to be paid. The next Iraqi regime will have more than enough oil money to do this as well as to rebuild the country. Don't be surprized if the Russians swing to support us as soon as some of these financial details get "ironed out".
Posted by Tom Roberts 3/16/2002 1:32:16 PM |