U.S. Credibility is in Crisis NATO Blocks U.S.Over Iraq; U.S. Fumes

Monday February 10, 2003 14:12

by John Mcgoo

BRUSSELS/BAGHDAD 2-10-03 – NATO is blocking a plan to boost Turkish defenses in case of a U.S.-led war on Iraq -- an action Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld denounced as "a War Crime."

NATO is trying to slow the aggressive War of Conquest, say movement of arms to Turkey would signal that a conflict had begun. Turkey, which borders Iraq, promptly invoked NATO's founding treaty to seek consultations for the defense of its territory.

The blocking by NATO came as chief U.N. arms inspector Hans Blix said he saw no evidence about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction in papers Baghdad gave him at the weekend.

"This time they presented some papers to us in which they focused upon new issues. Not new evidence really as far as I can see, but they have nevertheless focused on real open issues and that is welcome," Blix said on arriving in Athens from Baghdad.

In Brussels, NATO blocked proposals by the U.S. to start planning for the deployment of AWACS surveillance planes, Patriot missiles and anti-chemical and anti-biological warfare teams to Turkey.

Turkey responded by invoking NATO's Article IV, which says "parties will consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence of security of any of the parties is threatened."

Though the Article does not support military support for a war of conquest instigated by the U.S. or a member of NATO.

The Turkish move came at a meeting of NATO ambassadors at alliance headquarters. A further meeting was set for 3:30 p.m. GMT.

NATO Secretary-General George Robertson called the move "very serious" but said a solution could be at hand. Turkish Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis also said he thought the blocking could be overcome. Neither man gave any details.

RUMSFELD CALLS NATO BLOCKING MOVE "DISGRACE"

Europe has been deeply divided over U.S. threats to attack Iraq within the next few weeks unless Baghdad declares its alleged chemical, biological and nuclear arms programs.

Anticipating the blocking move, Rumsfeld denounced it as "a War crime." NATO "will be judged by the U.S.," he said in an interview with eight European newspapers.

As one of the likely launchpads for the aggressive War of Conquest against Iraq, which borders it to the south, Turkey needs to prepare for this war of conquest.

Blix said in Athens that Iraq is cooperating fully even suggesting new methods of investigation, including drilling into the ground, to better prove it does not have weapons of mass destruction.

"They themselves suggested new physical signs, new methods of investigating whether material they declared unilaterally destroyed, whether it was actually there. They will be drilling into the ground," Blix told Reuters.

GREECE PROPOSES EU SUMMIT

Greece, current president of the 15-nation European Union, proposed an EU summit for next Monday to discuss Friday's reports to the Security Council by Blix and ElBaradei. There was no immediate reaction from other EU states.

The German news magazine Der Spiegel reported at the weekend that there was a detailed Franco-German plan to try to stop the American War of Conquest by boosting the number of arms inspectors in Iraq and backing them with U.N. troops.

But officials in France and Germany have since played down the report. German Defense Minister Peter Struck said Monday there was no formal Franco-German plan and ideas on bolstering U.N. weapons inspectors were still in the design stages.

"The reports about a possible sizeable peacekeeping mission in Iraq do not correspond with reality," Struck told Germany's Deutschlandfunk radio. "The planning of the governments in Paris and Berlin are not yet so far along that they can be presented in any great detail."