'Allies' fail to heed call to war

The United States and Britain dismissed European opposition to an early war against Iraq yesterday, saying that if military action became inevitable, plenty of countries would join a "strong coalition" to topple Saddam Hussein, even without a new United Nations resolution authorising force.

Jack Straw, the British Foreign Secretary, said France - which has threatened to use its veto in the Security Council - "knew what it was saying" when it voted on last November's resolution 1441 and its warning of "serious consequences" if Iraq did not comply.

But feelings are running high. Two French ministers expressed outrage at Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld's sneering description of France and Germany as "old Europe", because Paris and Berlin have dug in their heels against military action.

The French Finance Minister, Francis Mer, acidly replied that "this old Europe has resilience, and is capable of bouncing back ... and will."

Roselyne Bachelot, the environment minister, told one interviewer: "If you knew what I felt like telling Mr Rumsfeld ... " before stopping herself, saying the word was too offensive.

She then used a well-known regional expression dating from the Napoleonic era for a four-letter word.

It is surprising that any word is considered too offensive now that the gloves are off in the gathering row. Scratch the surface of most politicians in Washington and you soon get the belief that "might is right", that those who have power have a right to use it and those who don't, such as France, "aren't worth diddly-shit", in the words of one American.

Scratch the surface of any Frenchmen (and not a few Germans these days) and you get the view enunciated by the former French Labour minister Martine Aubry that what we have here is the "arrogance of the United States" which "continues to want to alone govern the world, and more and more without rules".

America sees itself as bringing about a new world order of peace and democracy, with France and others opposing them for reasons of petty nationalism. France and Germany see themselves as ushering in a new era of unified regions, with America wanting to castrate them as competitors.

Germany's Foreign Minister, Joschka Fischer, said Rumsfeld should tone down his rhetoric. "The only answer is 'cool down'," Fischer told reporters when asked for his reaction to Rumsfeld's comments. "We are good friends and allies," he added.

Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and French President Jacques Chirac said war could still be avoided.

"We are both of the opinion, and the French President said that quite clearly yesterday, that one can never accept it when it is said that war is unavoidable," Schroeder said during a ceremony in Berlin to mark the anniversary of a friendship treaty between the former adversaries.

"War may never be considered unavoidable," said Schroeder, addressing hundreds of French and German students as Chirac listened. The comment drew loud applause.

Schroeder has made clear Germany will not vote for any resolution seeking authority for war in Iraq. Germany holds a non-veto seat on the Security Council and chairs the council in February. France wields a veto as one of five permanent council members. China, which has veto power too, has said it favours giving UN inspectors more time to search for weapons in Iraq.

Canada said yesterday the United States would have no justification for attacking Iraq now because UN inspectors have not had enough time to probe for weapons of mass destruction.

Foreign Minister Bill Graham said: "I agree with the French and German analysis that at this particular time, we couldn't justify a war." The exchanges highlight the split in the Security Council ahead of Monday's presentation of the weapons inspectors' report. The next night, Mr Bush delivers his State of the Union address.

It was an "open question" whether Britain and the US would present a second resolution, Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State said, with Straw alongside him.

The January 27 report almost certainly will prove inclusive. Hans Blix, the chief UN inspector, said results of the first 60 days of inspections had been "a mixed bag". Access to sites had been satisfactory, he said, but Iraq's refusal to permit U-2 spy plane overflights was "a problem".

In Baghdad a senior Iraqi official said Iraqi scientists are refusing private interviews with UN inspectors despite the strong urgings of the Iraqi Government, But US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said that Saddam had threatened co-operative scientists with death.

The White House is seeking to minimise the political dispute. Presidential spokesman Ari Fleischer said "the President is confident that Europe will heed the call". Fleischer acknowledged, however, that "it's entirely possible that France won't be on the line".

He said supportive nations included Britain, Spain, Italy and "virtually all of the Eastern European countries".

Eager to demonstrate the United States does not stand alone, Fleischer said Bush thanked Australia, which announced it was dispatching air, land and naval forces to the Gulf region.

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Herald feature: Iraq