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SHOESHINE:
An Italian daily mocks Berlusconi's stance
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Powell's presentation was meant to demolish the European argument that the weapons inspectors simply need "more time." But much of the European press dismissed his message; powell doesn't win the battle of proof, said Le Figaro. With that kind of coverage, there was little chance Powell would change European opinion.
But it didn't help Powell's case when he cited a U.K. dossier that turned out to be not the work of MI6 sleuths, but in large part a patchwork of previously published texts — some of it plagiarized from a thesis by a 29-year-old Californian student. Then U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld got into the act. Before arriving at a security conference in Munich, Rumsfeld kissed off Germany once and for all: "There are three or four countries that have said they won't do anything [in a war against Iraq]," he said Wednesday. "I believe Libya, Cuba and Germany are the ones that have indicated they won't help in any respect." Germans interpreted Rumsfeld's remark as yet more evidence that America equates opposition to war with treachery. peace, not war, mr. rumsfeld! blared the only English words on the front page of Munich's Abendzeitung. Protesters waved signs saying rummy go home!
European leaders who support the U.S. position have a lot to lose unless they start making a stronger case to their constituents — and soon. Coalitions are threatening to boil over. In Italy, Silvio Berlusconi was shouted down during a speech last week by M.P.s chanting antiwar slogans. In Portugal, Prime Minister José Manuel Durão Barroso was publicly rebuked by President Jorge Sampaio for backing "a doctrine that contains grave risks, and is contrary to international law."
In Eastern and Central Europe, the calculations are even more complex. Gratitude toward America is still fresh in the region liberated in 1989, yet antiwar feeling also runs high. In the Czech Republic, 67% oppose a U.N.-mandated war. In Hungary, the figure is 76%. "The Central European democracies are caught between a rock and a hard place," says Prague political analyst Jiri Pehe. If they oppose a war, they offend the U.S.; if they back a war, they alienate their electorate. "No matter what they do, they wrong somebody," Pehe says.
Alexandr Vondra, a former Czech ambassador to the U.S. who helped convince Vaclav Havel to sign a European letter of support for Bush, argues that real leadership means not bending to fickle public opinion, but making difficult and unpopular decisions. He says that history will prove that a hard line was the only way to deal with Saddam: "I am happy that the people are careful before making such a serious decision. But politicians cannot just float on public opinion. With a serious question like war, there must be leadership. Leaders have vital information that they cannot always share with their population." So far most Europeans disagree, and millions of them will make their opposition known this weekend at protest rallies across Europe. With those crowds in mind, Blair and the other pro-U.S. European leaders must be hoping that American soldiers soon meet another kind of crowd — cheering, joyful mobs in the streets of liberated Baghdad. That's about the only thing that could make Europeans feel good about this war.
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