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Can
world-wide demonstrations turn the U.S. away from war track
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BRUSSELS,
February 16 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – As Massive peace
demonstrations spanning the world might slow the momentum of the
U.S.-led drive for war on Iraq and bolster diplomatic bids for peaceful
alternatives, Europe is still grappled with deep divisions over the
Baghdad crisis and the U.S. administration insistent on war vows.
Global
anti-war protests on a scale not seen since the Vietnam War, coming
after a majority of the UN Security Council backed further inspections
in the bid to assure Iraq's disarmament, have left Washington
increasingly isolated.
NATO,
facing one of the most serious rifts in its 54-year history, launched
fresh talks Sunday, February 16, amid continuing rancor notably between
the United States and France, which has opposed an accord along with
Belgium and Germany, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
And
more acrimony is expected at an emergency summit here Monday, February
17, of the sharply divided European Union, with the French and
German-led anti-war camp bolstered by the global protests.
Australia
and Britain, the only two countries so far to deploy military personnel
to the Gulf in support of the U.S. build-up, both saw emphatic
demonstrations of popular resistance to war on Iraq.
More
than 400,000 people demonstrated
across Australia again on Sunday, after London saw its
biggest protest yet, with at least 750,000 filling Hyde Park on
Saturday, February 15.
But
Australian Prime Minister John Howard showed no sign of wavering in his
support for U.S. President George W. Bush, saying: "This is not
something where you read each opinion poll or you measure the number of
people at demonstrations."
His
British counterpart Tony Blair again also insisted action must be taken
against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
Although
Blair said weapons inspectors would
be given more time in Iraq, he repeated his threatening
tone to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, even if his alliance with
Washington possibly stake his political career.
"I
do not seek unpopularity as a badge of honor. But sometimes it is the
price of leadership and the cost of conviction."
Europe
Still Divided
Meanwhile,
NATO chief George Robertson convened the Defense Planning Committee
(DPC), on which France does not sit, in a new bid to end the crisis
centered on U.S. proposals to help Turkey in the case of war on Iraq,
AFP said.
France
said it was hoping for a solution that would involve France staying out
of military measures but reaffirming its political solidarity with
Ankara.
As
for the European Union, the split is so great, with Britain, Italy and
Spain leading calls for war, that one senior EU diplomat said the talks
Monday risked compounding the divisions.
"This
could be a bomb that explodes in our faces," he said.
"The
best we can expect is that everybody at least smiles for the family
photo." Another diplomat said.
General
Kofi Annan, who said Saturday that the Security Council might need a new
resolution on Iraq but that war could still be averted, will address the
summit, as current EU president Greece tries to keep the United Nations
at the centre of the Union's response to the crisis.
Demonstrations
near the U.N headquarters in New York amassed thousands of people on
Saturday in protest at the U.S. war threats to Iraq and what they
chanted its vicious thirst for oil riches in the Arab Gulf.
The
New York protests are expected to draw 100,000 Americans
joining the "No for War" message jointly said by some six
million people all over the world.
As
demonstrations in Rome thought to have been one of the biggest anywhere
in the world on Saturday, Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi urged
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to work towards European unity on Iraq,
and to insist that a resolution to the crisis be sought through the
United Nations where U.S. officials now privately admit they cannot
raise the votes needed for a war mandate.
"Europe's
cohesion and its relations with the United States are two of the pillars
of Italian foreign policy," the head of state said.
Italian
newspapers predicted today that the government would be forced to take
more account of public opposition to war in Iraq following Saturday's
unprecedented protests.
"Town
squares were full but Europe is empty," the Corriere della
Sera said.
"Europe
has never been so divided since World War II ... And yet, perhaps for
the first time, Europe may stop a United States that seems to have
forgotten its own values," read the paper, joining the tit-for-tat
media war between Europe and Washington.
U.S.
Undermines Anti-War Protests
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U.S.
national security advisor Condoleezza Rice says anti-war protests
will not undermine Washington's resolve to ‘overthrow Saddam’
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Meanwhile,
White House national security adviser Condoleezza Rice slammed this
weekend's massive protests around the world against military action in
Iraq in no ways lessens U.S. resolve to overthrow Saddam Hussein.
The
millions of people who took part in demonstrations around the world
"have the right to protest, they do not have that freedom in
Baghdad, we should not lose sight of who is in power in Baghdad,"
Rice told NBC television early Sunday.
U.S.
officials meanwhile declined to indicate their next move, with White
House spokeswoman Jeanie Mamo saying Bush "still hopes for a
peaceful resolution, and that is up to Saddam Hussein". Bush said
he still considers war a last-ditch resort, adding that Saddam Hussein
still have weapons of mass destruction.
Secretary
of State Colin Powell indicated the administration was now uncertain it
would seek a second resolution to approve use of force against Iraq.
But
if Iraq has still fails to disarm, Washington is ready "to lead a
coalition of nations that would be willing to join the United States in
the disarmament," Powell said.
The
United States has some 150,000 troops in place in the Gulf, bolstered by
troops from Australia and Britain.
‘Bin
Laden Once More’
Also
Sunday a new tape, alleged to be from Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden,
was posted to the Internet in which he vows to pursue his struggle
against the United States and slams Gulf Arab leaders as U.S. puppets.
The
53-minute tape urges Muslims "to be convinced of the
possibility of defeating the Americans", citing a list of attacks
against U.S. interests across the globe in recent years. It warned that
Egypt, sudan and Syria will be the next U.S. targets after Iraq.
Bin
Laden also lashes out at Saudi and other Gulf leaders, portraying them
as U.S. puppets comparable to U.S.-backed Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
