Iraq splits EU summit as Blair backs US
PM in clash over veto on contracts for reconstruction
Ian Black in Brussels
Saturday December 13, 2003
The Guardian
Angry disagreements about Iraq burst into the open at the EU summit
yesterday, fuelled by the US decision to bar countries that opposed the war
from bidding for contracts to rebuild the country.
Tony Blair insisted that it was "for the Americans to decide how to spend
their own money" - a statement which put him at odds with France and
Germany, which led the coalition of anti-war countries.
With the Brussels talks on the new EU constitution proving divisive enough
in themselves, the 25 governments decided not to hold a formal discussion on
Iraq, but that did not end the criticism.
"Iraq's stability is in everyone's interest," said Jacques Chirac, the
French president, adding that the US decision "went in the wrong direction."
Chris Patten, the EU's external relations commissioner, said the US move was
"unnecessary and politically maladroit", and would make it far harder to
persuade countries such as Germany - which pays a quarter of the EU budget -
to give more for reconstruction.
"It's a triumph for Pentagon diplomacy," said a sarcastic Mr Patten. "But
however the Pentagon behaves, we all have an interest in Iraq being a
success rather than a bloody mess."
The anti-war countries are especially angry because Washington is trying to
drum up support from France, Germany and Russia for writing off the Saddam
regime's $125bn (£72bn) debt.
Javier Solana, the EU's foreign policy chief, said: "It is not the wisest
decision. You are saying that countries cannot participate in tenders and at
the same time you are asking those same countries to cooperate on debt."
Sweden's foreign minister, Laila Freivalds, said the US was acting in a
"completely unacceptable" way.
With the European commission already investigating whether world trade rules
have been breached, Romano Prodi, its president, said: "It does not help the
relationship, most of all on the eve of a meeting that was meant to take a
decision on Iraq's debt, as many of these countries excluded are large
creditors."
The row damaged European attempts to patch up relations with Washington,
which include the adoption yesterday of a new "security strategy" designed
to make the EU a more effective and coherent player on the world stage - and
forestall divisions of the sort that rocked it for months over Iraq.
The final version of the document dropped the term "pre-emptive engagement"
to distance the EU from the Bush administration's doctrine of military
pre-emption.
The strategy paper, drafted by the British diplomat Robert Cooper, contains
no explicit doctrine for the use of force. But it retains the notion of
"preventive enagement" to avert conflicts and crises, and calls on member
states to boost their military capacities and pool defence resources. It
also embraces the US view that weapons of mass destruction and transnational
terrorism are two of the main threats to world security.
But it has been criticised by development agencies as subordinating aid and
poverty reduction to the "war on terror".
Leaders endorsed the important European defence deal recently agreed between
Britain, France and Germany - and reluctantly accepted by the US after weeks
of persuasion by Mr Blair that it will not undermine Nato.
"This gives us the opportunity to keep the transatlantic alliance very
strong, but make sure that in circumstances where America is not engaged in
an operation, and where vital European interests are involved, that Europe
can act," the prime minister said.
France, said Mr Chirac, had never intended to challenge Nato. Silvio
Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister and summit chairman, said: "The EU
can become an authoritative player on the world stage."
The agreement allows for the creation of a small "planning cell" at EU
military headquarters in Brussels, but only in close liaison with the
Atlantic alliance.
The constitution also includes a new mutual defence clause and arrangements
for a core group of militarily advanced states.
The defence deal was attacked by the Tories. Michael Ancram, the shadow
foreign secretary, said: "The agreement on an autonomous planning cell for a
European military capability is a dangerous step along the road to a single
European state. The prime minister has sold out to those in Europe who wish
to undermine Nato and rival the United States."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1106339,00.html
--
Reports by the US Senate's committee on banking, housing and urban
affairs -- which oversees American exports policy -- reveal that the US,
under the successive administrations of Ronald Reagan and George Bush Sr,
sold materials including anthrax, VX nerve gas, West Nile fever germs and
botulism to Iraq right up until March 1992, as well as germs similar to
tuberculosis and pneumonia. Other bacteria sold included brucella
melitensis, which damages major organs, and clostridium perfringens, which
causes gas gangrene.
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0908-08.htm
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