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| Iraq |
| Rumsfeld irate over secret plan on Iraq |
| 2003-02-08 |
| U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was visibly angry Saturday night after learning that without Germany and France were crafting a proposal for beefed up U.N. arms inspections in Iraq without consulting the United States. The proposal, first reported Saturday afternoon in the German newsweekly Der Speigel, would send thousands of U.N. troops — so-called "blue helmets" — and hundreds, possibly thousands, more inspectors to enforce U.N. resolutions calling for Iraq's disarmament. Oh, that'll work, about as well as it usually does... In comments to reporters, a senior U.S. government official said, "In diplomacy if you are trying to win friends and influence people the last thing in the world you want to do is to lay on the U.S. government — on the most important issue facing us — a major diplomatic proposal through the press. That's not exactly the way to go." Ummm... Prob'ly not. Unless you don't take us seriously... The official pointed out that Rumsfeld, in Munich for the 39th annual Werkunde security conference, had met with European officials throughout the day and the matter never was brought up. Rumsfeld raised the issue with German Defense Minister Peter Spruck in a one-on-one meeting Saturday. "And the response we got was, 'We're talking about that with the French, but we're not ready to talk to you about it, it's not fully done,'" the senior official said, "which to say the least was a highly inadequate response." Nope. They don't take us seriously. The official called it extraordinary that no one had spoken to Rumsfeld about it before, particularly given Rumsfeld's strong condemnatory comments earlier in the day. Earlier Saturday, Rumsfeld had warned Germany and France — the most vociferous They don't take Eastern Europe seriously, either... Separate from the secretive process that the United States delegation found outrageous, the U.S. government is likely to reject out of hand any such proposal to beef up inspections. "Stuff it, Jacques. And you, too, Fritz." The senior official brought up the disaster with U.N. troops Srebenica in the former Yugoslavia in July 1995, when Bosnian Serb units killed about 8,000 Muslim men and boys after capturing the town, a U.N.-designated "safe area." "We remember the last time that blue helmets were in a very difficult situation, and we remember July 10th, 1995, Srebenica, when 8,000 men and boys were killed," the official said. "Srbenica was an unmitigated disaster." The UN prefers not to remember it, of course... Moreover, the U.S. position remains it is not the inspectors' job to find Iraqi weapons but Iraq's job to prove it has disarmed. According to the United States, more inspectors will not change Iraq's noncompliance. Keep hammering that point, Don... Moments before the senior official spoke a clearly angry Rumsfeld declined to comment on the proposal, saying he only knew what was in the press. Earlier in the day, Rumsfeld had blasted the "two or three" NATO members — including Germany and France — who are blocking a NATO proposal to direct the Strategic Allied Commander Europe to prepare a Patriot missile battery, a surveillance plane and chemical and biological detectors to protect Turkey from a possible attack from Iraq. His remarks came in a speech Saturday to the alliance defense ministers gathered here for the conference. "It is beyond comprehension to me how in the world can a NATO country," he began, and was interrupted by thunderous applause. "To prevent just the planning I think is inexcusable," he continued. "Those preventing the alliance from taking even minimum measures to prepare to do so risk undermining the credibility of the NATO alliance. If they won't live up to that, what next might they not live up to?" Pick something. They won't live up to it. Rumsfeld said if NATO does not approve the protective measures for Turkey, the United States will do it independently. "Turkey will not be hurt. The United States (and others) will go right ahead and do it, let there be no doubt," he said. "What will be hurt is NATO." And another multilateral bubble will evaporate. A senior defense official told reporters Saturday afternoon he expects NATO to approve the proposal on Monday. So "confident and comfortable" was NATO Secretary-General Lord George Robertson that he put the proposal under a "break-silence procedure," meaning if no NATO member objects, it will go into effect. Will they be able to keep their mouths shut? Rumsfeld then launched a broad attack on the United Nations for allowing Libya to head a human rights commission and Iraq to head a disarmament commission. "That these acts of irresponsibility could happen now, at this moment in history, is breathtaking," leaving no doubt that in his mind the United Nations has already lost its credulity, Rumsfeld said. "Those acts will be marked in the history of the United Nations as either the low point of that institution in retreat, or the turning point when the U.N. woke up, took hold of itself and moved away from a path of ridicule to a path of responsibility." I think they'll try and stick with the ridicule, myself. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #2 Though it will never work, tactically this was a brilliant move by Sammy's lawyers, the French. We've often said that a truly effective inspection regime would be little different than occupation. They are proposing something that looks a lot like like occupation. If they make a semi-serious proposal, it will be hard to keep the Brits, the democrats and many other allies on board. |
| Posted by: JAB 2003-02-08 23:55:31 |
| #1 I think that France and Germany will continue this backstabbing even while they are caught in the vortex and are going down the toilet. Hats off to Rumsfeld for telling it like it is. I hope these two are counting their mosques as they speak, 'cause they better watch their six from there, too. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-02-08 21:34:38 |