Britain Warns U.S. Against Attacking Iraq As Pressure Mounts on Blair
 |
|
Tony Blair under pressure from his party |
LONDON,
August 9 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - British ministers and
government officials have strongly advised the United States against
attacking Iraq, warning that such action would intensify conflicts in
the region, the British daily newspaper, The Independent, reported
Friday, August 9, quoting senior defense and diplomatic sources.
The
warning came as the London Times reported that British Prime Minister
Tony Blair faces international humiliation at the hands of his own
party next month amid signs that Labor’s annual conference will vote
against British involvement in a military attack on Iraq.
In
a sign of deepening discord between the two allies, British ministers
and officials in Whitehall warned Washington that launching a war to
topple Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein would "contaminate"
crises in Afghanistan, Israel and Kashmir, said the Independent
"These
are issues the Americans appear not to have considered," one
official was quoted as saying.
Officials
added that the United States had countered British worries by
maintaining that existing conflicts in the region can be
"containerized" and that it would be impractical to wait for
every situation to be resolved before launching an attack on Iraq.
Washington
has repeatedly threatened to take action to unseat Saddam, whom it
accuses of developing weapons of mass destruction, Agence
France-Presse (AFP) said.
Britain
is Washington's closest military ally, and it is believed that U.S.
President George W. Bush would want to call on London's help in any
campaign.
British
ministers and government officials also have grave reservations about
Bush's call for a regime change in Baghdad because they say no
alternative set-up has been identified, said the Independent.
They
fear Britain may be lumbered with leading a massive stabilization
force for "up to five years" in an anarchic post-war Iraq,
with the prospect of the country being partitioned, it added.
While
they share the United States' belief that Saddam has acquired weapons
of mass destruction, ministers have seen no evidence that he can
deliver them in any meaningful way against the West, according to the
broadsheet.
Their
concerns came as a senior Pentagon adviser insisted that Bush would
not hesitate to act alone, AFP reported.
Richard
Perle, head of the Pentagon's defense policy board, added, however,
that he believed Blair would win over the doubters in Britain and back
a U.S.-led war.
"I
have no doubt he [Bush] would act alone if necessary. But he will not
be alone when the time comes," Perle wrote in Friday's edition of
The Daily Telegraph.
"Neither
the president nor the British prime minister will be deflected by
Saddam's diplomatic charm offensive, the feckless moralizing of
'peace' lobbies or the unsolicited advice of retired generals,"
Perle added.
Although
Blair has stated that London has taken no decisions on military
action, he has repeatedly stressed that the threat posed by Saddam
must be addressed.
However,
the British leader is facing increasing pressure at home not to
support Bush.
The
Times said that his Labor Party and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) are
likely to vote against any strike at their annual conferences in
September 2002, as they are preparing emergency resolutions for the
Blackpool conference calling on the Government to oppose any U.S.-led
war against Iraq.
"I
think there is a high probability of a debate and a vote (at the TUC
conference) condemning war against Iraq," the paper quoted an
unnamed senior TUC source as saying.
"If
that happens, the unions will want to take it forward to the [Labor]
party conference and things could get very interesting indeed,"
the source added.
“In
an early signal of the unions’ hostility towards any military
action, nine general secretaries last week signed a letter claiming
there was no evidence that Saddam had acquired weapons of mass
destruction or was a threat to the U.S., the Independent reported.
The
letter was drawn up by Bill Morris, the general secretary of the
Transport and General Workers’ Union and an ally of Gordon Brown,
the Chancellor, the paper said.
“We
believe we are representative of public opinion in Britain and
internationally in rejecting George W Bush’s push for military
action against Iraq. Such a war would be outside international law and
bring further instability to the entire region,” said the letter.
The
Daily Mirror, meanwhile, quoted a Labor Party insider as saying that
Blair's siding with Bush was the single-biggest reason why donations
to the party were down a staggering 88 percent on the same period last
year.
"This
is where the disquiet about Iraq is most obvious. We know it's
reflected in donations and we expect it in membership figures
too," said the insider.
Labor
raised 591,000 pounds (905,000 dollars, 937,000 euros) in the second
quarter of 2002, compared with 5.3 million pounds during the same
period in 2001.
“Mr
Blair is said to be frustrated that, despite his friendship with Mr
Bush, he has not been given a clear idea of what the U.S. plans for
Iraq, leaving him exposed to hostile public opinion in Britain,” the
Times concluded.
|
