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We will consult with our friends and hope they will join us: Bush
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PRAGUE,
November 20 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – U.S. President
George W. Bush on Wednesday, November 20, pledged to consult allies on
any possible military action against Iraq.
“If
the decision is made to use military force, we will consult with our
friends and we hope that our friends will join us,” Bush said during
a joint appearance with Czech President Vaclav Havel ahead of the
two-day NATO summit to endorse its widest-ever expansion.
The
U.S. leader said NATO’s support would make “more real” the
possibility that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein “gets the message”
of a tough new U.N. resolution and abandons any chemical, biological
or nuclear weapons, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
“If
the collective will of the world is strong, we can achieve disarmament
peacefully.
“However,
should he (Saddam) choose not to disarm, the United States will lead a
coalition of the willing to disarm him,” he vowed.
Havel
told reporters NATO “should give an honest and speedy consideration
to its engagement as an alliance” in any conflict with Iraq, which
has denied having weapons of mass destruction.
NATO
was expected to adopt a statement underlining the alliance’s support
for the U.N. resolution but falling well short of committing members
to enforcing it by force if necessary.
Aware
that even Washington’s close NATO partners are not eager to back
U.S. action against Iraq, Bush pledged to consult allies before taking
action and left it up to each nation individually to decide what role
it will play.
“It’s
a decision that each country must decide as to how, if and when they
want to participate and how they choose to participate,” he said on
the eve of the NATO summit.
Asked
specifically about what role there might be for Germany - which has
said it will not take part in such military action even if
U.N.-approved – Bush replied: “It’s a decision Germany will
make.”
He
also vowed, without offering any details, to “take appropriate
action” after Iraqi air defenses opened fire on U.S. and British
warplanes enforcing so-called “no-fly zones” over northern and
southern Iraq.
The
no-fly zones were self-styled by the United States and Britain in the
wake of the 1991 Second Gulf War and are not authorized by any U.N.
resolution.
Bush’s
comments came as the 19-nation NATO was set to invite seven new
members, all former Soviet dominions, and embark on an effort to
revamp its military structure to face new global threats.
NATO’s
largest-ever expansion is expected to include invitations to Bulgaria,
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Romania to join the
alliance, in theory at its next summit in 2004.
“I
welcome the idea of countries joining NATO whose history has taught
them the need to protect freedom at all costs, countries whose
admission to NATO will invigorate our alliance,” Bush said.
As
U.S. fighters patrolled the overcast skies over Prague, Bush also
endorsed NATO’s moves towards creating a rapid response force
comprising 21,000 combat-ready troops ready to deploy within days to
any global hotspot.
“It
is a necessary job to transform our strategy, our military strategy to
meet the true threats we face.
“The
enemy is not Russia, the enemy is global terrorists who hate
freedom,” said the U.S. leader.
Possibly
the most important aspect of such a force would be its stated purpose
of acting outside NATO’s traditional sphere of operations, the
European theater, where it was meant to deter any Soviet aggression.
That
could make the force a key asset in the war on terrorism that Bush
declared after terrorists crashed hijacked planes into the World Trade
Center and the Pentagon.
Bush
was to meet with a number of key NATO leaders Wednesday before using a
speech to the Prague Atlantic Student Summit to sound twin clarion
calls for the alliance to transform and expand.
On
Wednesday, Bush was to discuss issues including Iraq in separate
meetings with Havel and Czech Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla, Turkish
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, and NATO Secretary General George
Robertson.
Bush
- who will meet here Thursday, November 21, with French President
Jacques Chirac and British Prime Minister Tony Blair - will travel on
to the Russian city of Saint Petersburg on Friday, November 22, for
talks on Iraq and the war on terorrism with President Vladimir Putin.
Bush
will reassure Putin that NATO poses no threat to Moscow and reiterate
his support for his Russian counterpart’s iron-fisted solution to a
recent hostage-taking by Chechen fighters in Moscow.
