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"The
real reason for this war is probably the desire of the United
States to show that they still have a credible power of
dissuasion," Michel said
|
BRUSSELS,
April 1 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - The U.S.-led war on Iraq
was motivated by Washington’s dire need to reassert its power after
the 9-11 attacks on symbols of its sovereignty and bride, Belgian
Foreign Minister Louis Michel said in a newspaper interview on Tuesday,
April 1.
Michel
said the United States was seeking to show that it could still hit back
after the September attacks, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"The
real reason for this war is probably the desire of the United States to
show that they still have a credible power of dissuasion. Striking Iraq
to make an example of it," he told the French-language newspaper La
Libre Belgique.
"It's
incredible to throw so much power into a war while hinting that the
whole thing had been worked out in advance, when in fact it appears that
things aren't so clear," Michel said.
He
also denounced the widely different explanations given by the United
States for invading
Iraq, in an onslaught that failed to win the backing of the United
Nations.
"First
it was disarmament. Then it was liberating the Iraqis. Along the way,
there was an attempt to show that the whole thing would solve the Middle
East problem," he recalled.
The
statements came as Michel's U.S. opposite number Colin Powell was due to
leave Washington for Europe, travelling to Belgium after a visit to
Turkey.
All
European foreign ministers will be in Brussels on Thursday, April 3, to
meet with Powell, the Greek E.U. presidency said on Tuesday.
Belgium
has been one of the vocal opponents of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq
along with France, Germany and Russia.
Belgium
also refused to toe the U.S. line by spurning
a U.S. request to expel Iraqi diplomats from Brussels.
