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| Europe | |
| France, Germany Concerned About Iraq Force Plan | |
| 2003-05-04 | |
| France and Germany expressed their reservations over the U.S. plans to form a stabilization force with their exclusion Saturday as it seems to be a punishment for their staunch anti-war opposition. French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin reserved on the scope of the plan, saying many countries that would like to take part were concerned about the legal underpinnings for any such force. "A lot of countries who were interested in joining the planned force expressed their concern about having a legal framework, specifically about clearly marking out the role of the United Nations so they could really take part, or consider doing so. "For the moment the aim is only to expand what the British and the Americans are already doing on the ground. Let's wait to see how things work out in practice," said De Villepin. German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer also said his country knew about the plans, decided at a conference in London April 30. "It was clear that... a few EU states other than the UK were involved in it or at least made clear that they were participating with troops or troops and humanitarian aid," he said. An American official said that the United States and its war allies were forming a stabilization force, dividing Iraq into three sectors to be commanded by the United States, Britain and Poland. "The thought is the force would be generated by a coalition of the willing on a bilateral basis," said the official. The official said there was a consensus in Washington that the U.N. role should be restricted to "what it does best" — humanitarian affairs, dealing with refugees and internally displaced people, and reconstruction.
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| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #6 As for Germany, it's impossible for us to send troops anywhere outside NATO territory except by request and leadership of the United Nations. The constitution says so and that article was certainly put there for good reason given Germany's history. France may not need the legal framework of the UN but Germany certainly does. |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2003-05-04 22:06:25 |
| #5 It's about time that we started to recognize what a good friend that we have in Poland. They are taking much grief in the EU for sticking by us. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-05-04 21:25:45 |
| #4 Man, Steve - you're bureaucratically vicious - I like that |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-05-04 20:37:21 |
| #3 It's really too bad. I'm guessing that it will take a year, at least, maybe two, to work out the "legal underpinnings" so that the French could participate. I think Colin Powell so send someone ("Marvin" would be fine in this job) to Europe sometime in, oh, September to meet with de Villepin and hear his views. I'm sure that with protracted negotiations something could be done. We'd at least get a statement of agreed concerns. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2003-05-04 19:31:36 |
| #2 many countries ..were concerned about the legal underpinnings Jeesh...give it UP, Villepin, that tack didn't work, hasn't worked and won't work. You know the ol' saying, if it ain't broke... well, that saying only works if it ain't broke. Give it UP! Time to cut your losses and move on. |
| Posted by: Becky 2003-05-04 15:01:29 |
| #1 Talking about the UN and "what it does best" is misleading. It's really about where the UN may do the least evil. In reality the UN should be abolished. |
| Posted by: Kalle (kafir forever) 2003-05-04 13:52:26 |