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BROOKS KRAFT/CORBIS for TIME
READY AND WILLING: President Bush is impatient with Europe's misgivings
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6 Reasons Why So Many Allies Want Bush To Slow Down |
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They want more proof, they like inspections and they don't like Cowboy Bush. And yes, there's more
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By JOHANNA McGEARY |
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Posted Sunday, Jan. 26, 2003; 2.22 p.m. GMT
For the Bush administration's theologians, the rationale, timing and necessity for going to war against Iraq have been self-evident for so long that the only reason no shots have been fired by now is mainly mechanical: not enough forces in place yet. That's why the President sounded so exasperated last week when he called the rising volume of objections from abroad, even as he was jockeying his troops into ready position, the "rerun of a bad movie." Surely, he snapped, "our friends have learned lessons from the past."
Yet for a growing chorus of other folks, not least of all America's foremost allies, those lessons are no easy guide to the future. Accusing the U.S. of needless "impatience," French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin seemed to speak for much of the international community last week when he declared: "We see no justification right now for any military action."
Is this the signal of a major rift pitting the U.S. against the world, or just part of the usual diplomatic sparring and face-saving before a global coalition sets off for Baghdad? Both France and Germany raised sharp and public disapproval with Bush's rush toward war, then showed their Euro-muscle by deferring a U.S. request for NATO military assistance.
In advance of this week's scheduled report on weapons inspections to the United Nations Security Council, powerful members were laying down markers for a contentious debate on whether and when to authorize a fight. France hinted at a veto. President Vladimir Putin called Bush to warn that Russia likewise is not ready to say "go" either, and China let it be known it was "extremely close" to the French position.
Washington believes it can steamroller its way through with tough diplomacy — or go in with little help if necessary. Yet a sizable majority — 65% according to one poll — of American voters indicate they are also reluctant to start shooting without broad international backing.
Why are so many of America's friends balking? The antiwar sentiment among Washington's expected allies reflects a deep reservoir of skepticism and misgiving that stretches along a spectrum from immediate doubts to long-term philosophical differences, from disagreement over the purpose of inspections and the threshold of war to worries that the U.S. doesn't really care if it has allies. Of course, Bush can count on loyal friends like Spain, Italy, Poland and Britain to stand by his side, despite the disapproval of their citizens. And some of the vocal opponents, like France and Russia, have lucrative commercial or financial ties with Iraq they fear a U.S.-led war might sunder.
Nonetheless, the tensions surfacing last week reflect strong popular opposition across Europe that won't necessarily fade away even if reluctant governments eventually opt to go along with the world's superpower. Here's a dissection of allied anxieties:
 WHERE'S THE PROOF ON IRAQ?
Many Europeans aren't convinced Saddam Hussein really poses a graver threat now than the one everyone has learned to live with since the Gulf War. They feel Bush's indictment of Saddam's brutal character and sins is old news and want to know: what's so dangerous about Iraq today that only war can save us from? Most don't share Bush's obsessive conviction he already "knows" Saddam Hussein hides away stockpiles of illicit biological and chemical weapons and is close to obtaining a nuclear one.
Of course, many Europeans suspect Saddam has dangerous stuff; they understand the arguments that Saddam is a bad guy who may do worse things someday. Yet the forbidden weaponry turned up so far is pretty tame: 16 undeclared chemical warheads, illegal importation of 200 missile engines and the disappearance of some high explosives that could be used for nuclear warheads. Also uncovered were documents that describe a technique used to enrich uranium.
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