NYTimes.com Article: 3 Nations Call for Alternative to Iraq War

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<<Mr. Chirac added that the transatlantic alliance remains sound.>>

Somehow I suspect the members of a 'sound' alliance don't have to affirm that 
their alliance is sound.

Steven Sherman


threehegemons@aol.com


3 Nations Call for Alternative to Iraq War

February 10, 2003
By CRAIG S. SMITH 




 

PARIS, Feb. 10 - France, Russia and Germany issued a joint
declaration today calling for intensified weapons
inspections as an alternative to war in Iraq and publicly
closing ranks against the United States for the first time
in post-Cold War history. 

"Russia, Germany and France note that the position they
express coincides with that of a large number of countries,
within the Security Council in particular," the declaration
read. 

The declaration appeared to be a veiled warning to the
United States that the three could block any attempt to
pass a second Security Council resolution authorizing the
use of force against Iraq. All three countries are members
of the United Nations Security Council and France and
Russia, as permanent members, have the the power to veto
resolutions. 

The declaration said the debate over the presence of
weapons of mass destruction in Iraq "must continue in the
spirit of friendship and respect that characterizes our
relations with the United States," and Mr. Chirac added
that the transatlantic alliance remains sound. 

But the French president stated flatly that "nothing today
justified a war," adding that "in my view, there's no
indisputable proof" that weapons of mass destruction exist
in Iraq. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/10/international/europe/10cnd-fran.html?ex=1045916931&ei=1&en=06f3cd688878c360



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