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Iraq | ||||
Harsh words from peace camp, muted praise from backers | ||||
2003-03-21 | ||||
Russia, France and China led a storm of international protest yesterday against the US strikes on Iraq, while praise from Washington's allies was restrained and often outweighed by street protest. Tap, tap ... nope, sympathy meter's stuck at zero.
I guess that if we vetoed it, that would be "unilateral". In Paris the de facto leader of the We can do that. "France regrets this action taken without Jacques, remind me, I'm a little fuzzy on this: who prevented UN approval again? China, another veto-holding permanent security council member, appealed for an "immediate halt to military actions against Iraq", abandoning the low-key approach that it had adopted. "War will inevitably lead to humanitarian disasters," a foreign ministry statement said. "Well, not as bad as our Great Leap Forward, but it could be bad!" In Germany, another I get the feeling that they're all reading from the same script. More than 100,000 people marched on the US embassy in Athens. In Rome, police blocked anti-war demonstrators marching up Via Veneto toward the American embassy, while tens of thousands of students, workers and others blocked roads and railway tracks elsewhere in the country. Riot police in the Philippines capital, Manila, used shields and truncheons to disperse about 300 activists trying to approach the US embassy, injuring at least 12 people. At the start of a potentially explosive summit in Brussels, "We have nothing to offer except ineffectual diplomacy, and now that has failed! Curse those Americans!" The Vatican was harsh on Iraq and Washington. A spokesman said: "On the one hand it laments the fact that the Iraqi government did not accept the resolutions of the UN and the appeal by the Pope himself, which asked for the country to disarm. On the other, it deplores the interruption of the path of
"Especially since we might be next!" Turkey, which has refused to Sure, Megs. How discussing how the world should deal with terrorist madrassas in your country? Pakistan declared that it would continue pushing for peace, and a Palestinian
All we need for now. Thanks, Jose. The Japanese prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, said he "understood, and supported the start of the use of force by the US", while the South Korean president, Roh Moo-hyun, said: "We will make diplomatic efforts to ensure this war does not worsen our relations with North Korea."
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Posted by:Steve White |
#6 the Australian prime minister, John Howard, said that some of the 2,000 troops he deployed to the Gulf took part in the attacks. Bless 'em all Bless 'em all The long and the short and the Tall Bless all the seargents and W-01s Bless all the corporals and their blinkin' sons And we mean it! Thanks, Aussies! |
Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-03-21 13:28:36 |
#5 No doubt the Chinese guy raised his objections to the US's "illegal actions" with a completely straight face. That's why they call 'em "inscrutable", y'know. |
Posted by: mojo 2003-03-21 09:41:03 |
#4 Russia? See Chechnya. China? See Tibet. Or Taiwan. France? See Ivory Coast. Or Robert Mugabe. Or Algeria. Or armpit hair. Moral gravity? These guys have to be tethered to their desks. |
Posted by: matt 2003-03-21 09:18:00 |
#3 i went down to those protests in Sydney today. A lot less people than yesterday, pretty much just a few socialists with a loudhailer and some banners. I had a lot of fun asking them all: 'how would YOU advocate getting rid of saddam?' The replies ranged from: 'through diplomacy' to 'but why should we do anything about him?' to 'lifting the UN sanctions'. Most disturbing was a middle-aged man claiming to be an Iraqi. He was clearly an immigrant, but I doubt his story. He claimed Schwartzkopf resigned because the US gave Saddam tanks in 1991 while the people of Iraq were trying to rebel. I doubt this but don't know the facts: can anyone tell me? Plus, he said that the Iraqi's would get rid of Saddam themselves 'if only the west would stop supporting him' to which i replied 'well the west hasn't supported him for hte last 12 years' to which he simply responded 'yes they have'. How do you argue with that? He's obviously wrong. |
Posted by: anon1 2003-03-21 09:08:42 |
#2 I just heard Senator Mitchell (hmm..maybe it was Levin) on Fox still trying to call this a "unilateral" action. When the interviewer asked if we can still call it "unilateral" with 40+ countries helping us...he said it was because we didn't have UN approval. Then...he tried to worm around it saying that he didn't think so, of course, but "unfortunately" that will be the perception around the world (except I suppose the 40+ countries). And of course, he wanted to let us know that. Ha ha, first it was just "unlilateral", then it was "unilateral" because no one else was giving "substantive support", now it's unilateral because not everyone is on board. Democrats keep retreating from their anti-American talking points faster than the Iraqi army does from Allied tanks. |
Posted by: becky 2003-03-21 08:40:07 |
#1 -- "War will inevitably lead to humanitarian disasters," a foreign ministry statement said.-- 50 years later they get it. |
Posted by: Anonymous 2003-03-21 01:37:56 |