-- WASHINGTON - American and British
officials yesterday blamed the French for the collapse of diplomacy and
complained that France's refusal to consider any tough measure on Saddam
Hussein has made the United Nations look toothless.
"I hope that in Paris they will reflect on what they have achieved,"
sneered British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.
Straw said France's contention that Saddam Hussein should have more time to
disarm would "only bring comfort to tyrants and emasculate the authority of
the United Nations."
"Clearly this is a test in my judgment that the [U.N.] Security Council did
not meet," Secretary of State Colin Powell said.
Standing with British U.N. Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock, U.S. Ambassador
John Negroponte said the latest get-tough resolution on Iraq might have passed
the 15-member U.N. Security Council - if France hadn't promised to veto it.
"We believe that the vote would have been close. I regret that in the face
of an explicit threat to veto by a permanent member, the vote-counting became
a secondary consideration," Negroponte said, referring to France.
But French U.N. Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere laughed when he was
asked if the U.S.-British resolution might have passed. "Certainly not,
certainly not," he said.
French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin painted the United States,
Britain and Spain as hungry for war and indifferent to world opinion.
"Despite the will clearly expressed by the international community, the
United States, Britain and Spain underlined today their determination to
resort to force," de Villepin said.
De Villepin even used language from the U.N. resolution on Iraq in
criticizing the three countries, saying France "regrets a decision that is not
justified . . . and that risks serious consequences for the region and the
world."
France and Germany want the U.N. Security Council, which is scheduled to
meet today, to approve language that would give inspectors a few more months
to look for doomsday weapons in Iraq.
But U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said diplomacy's over and announced
that all U.N. mandates on Iraq are "suspended" because U.N. workers are being
evacuated from Iraq.
"This is a question of war and peace . . . Trying to save the peace is
never a dream," German U.N. Ambassador Gunter Pleuger said.
Also yesterday, Russian President Vladimir Putin called war a "mistake" and
Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien declared his troops wouldn't fight
alongside U.S.-British forces.
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