Nation & world briefing
Bnts grow wary of war, resentful of U.S.
Glenn Frankel
© 2003, The Washington Post
LONDON — In a recently tele
vised satire here titled “Between Iraq
and a Hard Place,” George W. Bush
is depicted as an idiot who can’t
seem to grasp why Saddam Hussein
isn’t cooperating with the U.S.
timetable for war. American democ
racy is defined as “where there are
two candidates and the one with the
most votes loses,” and Britain’s role
in the forthcoming military cam
paign is starkly simple:
“What is it that the Americans
want from us?” asks a British official.
“From us?” replies an army gen
eral. “Dead bodies.”
Prime Minister Tony Blair is the
Bush administration’s staunchest in
ternational ally in its campaign
against Iraq and war on terrorism.
But apart from Blair and his inner
circle, there is growing unease and
resentment here not just about Iraq
but about U.S. power and foreign
policy in general, according to politi
cal analysts, commentators and
politicians.
There are fears that the United
States is determined to act without
heeding the concerns of its allies —
and fears that Britain will be
dragged along in its wake. These
fears have spread far beyond the
traditionally anti-American hard
left — known here as “the usual
suspects” — to include moderates
and conservatives as well.
“There’s no question the anxiety
is moving into the mainstream,” said
Raymond Seitz, a former U.S. am
bassador to Britain who is vice chair
man of Lehman Brothers Europe.
The debate here, he said, has shift
ed. “It’s not about how you deal with
weapons of mass destruction or how
you combat the threat of terrorism
in the world, it’s about how do you
constrain the United States. How do
you tie down Gulliver?”
The Guardian newspaper and the
IGM polling group found last week
that 30 percent of respondents now
support the idea of war, down from 42
percent in October. Opposition has
risen from 37 percent to 47 percent.
Criticism of America here begins
with Iraq but quickly broadens to ac
cusations that Washington is aiding
and abetting Israeli repression of
Palestinians and is a gluttonous soci
ety of large cars, fast food and envi
ronmental degradation seeking
cheap Iraqi oil to feed its consump
tion habits.
“People in America don’t under
stand that Blair is a rather lonely fig
ure within his own party and within
the country as a whole” concerning
war and the alliance with the United
States, Michael Gove, a columnist
for the Times of London newspaper,
said. “Anti-Americanism is a real
force here and a growing one.”
Other British observers insist
that what’s growing here isn’t anti
Americanism, but rather healthy
criticism of a superpower gone
awry. “A vast majority of the British
people are favorable to the United
States, but a substantial majority
are opposed to George W. Bush,”
said Godfrey Hodgson, a veteran
journalist and author.
Much of the outrage is indeed
aimed at Bush, whose colloquial
speaking style and Texas accent
don’t go over well here. A cartoon in
a week ago Sunday’s Observer news
paper depicted him as the Lone
Ranger and Blair as Tonto. When
Blair expresses doubts about the
Iraq campaign, Bush replies: “Shut
up, Tonto, and cover my back.”
British opposition differs from
that found in other European allies
such as France, which has a compli
cated relationship with the United
States, and Germany, with its post
World War II aversion to warfare.
By contrast, Britain has a martial
tradition similar to America’s, and
its relationship to the United States
remains one of the world’s endur
ing love affairs. After the Sept. 11,
2001, attacks, Blair was one of the
first foreign leaders to express sym
pathy and solidarity, and he sat
next to Laura Bush during Presi
dent Bush’s speech to Congress re
garding the attacks.
But there always was an alterna
tive view that the United States had
gotten some of what it deserved,
that the attacks were payback for
decades of ignoring Third World
grievances. Following a BBC tele
vised panel discussion two days
after the attacks, panelist and
columnist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown
wrote: “We share your grief, Ameri
ca — totally.
“But you must share our concerns.”
War countdown begins to accelerate this week
Ron Hutcheson
Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT)
WASHINGTON — President Bush
will start what his aides say is the
countdown to war with Iraq this week
by confronting nations around the
world with a stark choice between
military action or more diplomacy.
The rapid-fire developments are
to begin on today, when U.N.
weapons inspectors report on their
efforts to find and destroy Iraq’s hid
den weapons. Bush will make his
case for aggressive action the next
day in the nationally televised State
of the Union speech and could order
many more troops into the Gulf to
back up U.S. resolve.
The issue bounces back to the
r
United Nations on Wednesday when
the 15-member Security Council
goes behind closed doors to debate
the next move.
The looming diplomatic show
down has unleashed pent-up resent
ments toward the United States,
with potentially far-reaching conse
quences. Relations between the
United States and key European al
lies are in a downward spiral, and so
far the administration has been un
able to make Iraq’s behavior, not
America’s, the issue.
In some foreign capitals, the cri
sis in Iraq is viewed as a classic
case of American arrogance. Suspi
cions about Bush’s motives, anger
over his seeming disregard for Eu
ropean opinion and longstanding
grievances fueled by America’s mil
itary superiority, economic clout
and unrivaled status as the domi
nant world power are finding voice
in the Iraq debate.
In Davos, Switzerland, business
and political leaders at the World
Economic Forum have used the
gathering to vent their frustration
with U.S. foreign policy, especially
on Iraq. Representatives from the
Arab League and the European
Union urged Bush to stay within the
framework of the United Nations and
international law.
On Sunday, Secretary of State
Colin Powell told the forum that
Bush is in “no great rush” to launch
an attack on Iraq, but simultaneous
ly warned: “The United States be
lieves that time is running out.”
Even foreign leaders who agree
that Saddam Hussein is a menace —
and many do — say they don’t see
justification for war now. At the
United Nations, France, Germany,
China and Russia have apparently
teamed up in an effort to block any
U.S. war plans. Great Britain is
standing with the United States,
nervously.
No matter what happens at the
United Nations — and debate could
drag on — Bush says he will not
back down.
Inside the White House, presiden
tial advisers shrug off the increasing
ly vocal opposition from allies as well
as poll results in this country show
ing widespread opposition to unilat
eral military action. Although as
many as two-thirds of Americans say
they support the use of force against
Iraq, support turns to opposition if
the United States acts alone or in de
fiance of the United Nations.
Administration officials insist that
Bush would have plenty of backers if
he decided to go to war and gave a
strong rationale for action. He will
not attempt to do that in Tuesday’s
speech, but will explain why he is
nearing that point, aides said.
© 2003, Knight Ridder/Tribune
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