Internal NATO divisions over Iraq have become publicly acrimonious, partly because the frustrated Bush administration was expecting quick French and German assent to its war plans. The two leading European governments may still capitulate in the end, but for now, they have blocked US plans to prepare the alliance for war, and unveiled a plan – hatched in secret consultations with the Chinese and Russians – to strengthen the UN inspection teams in Iraq.
Although the US claims the support of the British and most European governments, notably those from the former Soviet bloc, public opinion across the continent is massively against war. This has encouraged the independent stance of the Chirac and Schroeder governments, and is fuelling the American antiwar movement – two factors which even the Bush administration can't ignore. The February 15th global antiwar demonstrations have thus assumed increased importance.
If you can't access the newspaper sites directly, I've posted three articles on www.supportingfacts.com: the first, from The Guardian, reports on the Europe-US diplomatic row; the second, from the Sunday Observer, describes the dramatic growth of the British antiwar movement; and the third, from the Los Angeles Times, highlights France's leading role. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <../attachments/20030210/af68d545/attachment.htm>