France, Germany Luxembourg, and Belgium? 
Posted on 04/28/2003 7:32:32 PM PDT by blam
Blair fears new Cold War over EU rift with US
By Toby Helm, Chief Political Correspondent
(Filed: 29/04/2003)
Tony Blair issued a warning yesterday that the world would be plunged back into an era of insecurity and tension reminiscent of the Cold War unless Europe and America quickly repaired the transatlantic relationship.
On the eve of talks in Moscow with President Vladimir Putin, who strongly opposed the war in Iraq, Mr Blair said there was a real danger that the advanced world would split into rival power blocs.
"My fear is that if we do not deal with the world on the basis of a partnership between Europe and America, then we will in a sense put back into the world the divisions that we wanted to get rid of when the Cold War finished.
"I think that would be just a disaster for the world."
The Iraq war split the European Union between those countries that backed Washington, led by Britain and Spain, and those that opposed military action, headed by France and Germany.
Mr Blair fears that the bad feeling caused by the war will exacerbate anti-Americanism in Europe, leading to a permanent rift.
Aiming his comments mainly at President Jacques Chirac, he said European leaders were facing a crucial time that would shape the future of global diplomacy. If they saw themselves as competitors to America, the dangers for world security and the global economy would be profound.
"I think it is a fundamental decision as to whether the world breaks into different centres of power that I think would very quickly become rival centres of power, or whether we see our task as trying to construct a partnership with America that others can join," he said.
"If you end up with two rival centres of power, you find a very, very difficult situation."
Mr Blair dismissed suggestions that he was being snubbed by France, Germany, Luxembourg and Belgium, which meet in Brussels today to discuss their vision of European defence.
The four nations are expected to lay out plans for common defence forces that are as independent as possible of Nato.
Mr Blair, who developed the idea of a European defence with M Chirac early in his first term as Prime Minister, rejected suggestions that he was losing control of EU defence planning.
He said Britain would "not accept anything that undermines Nato or conflicts with the basis of European defence we have set out".
In a strong defence of his war aims, Mr Blair cautioned those who had opposed war against "crowing" about the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. He said there was "no doubt that weapons of mass destruction existed".
He said 1,000 sites in Iraq were being examined but most had not yet been analysed and no announcements would be made until they had.
The Prime Minister said it was clear that before military action began there had been a six-month programme of concealment by the Iraqis. One benefit of this for the allies was that it had made the weapons much more difficult to use during the conflict.
Urging rapprochement with France, he said it remained an "important ally" of Britain.
The two countries were the leading defence nations in Europe, had extensive interests in Africa and shared positions on most leading security and political institutions.
Negotiations on world trade would be one of the most important issues over the next six months, he added.
"Are Europe and America going to fight each other or come to a common position and drive that through?"
Mr Blair said he hoped that today's talks with Mr Putin would mark a turning point in relations between Europe and Washington. "My contacts with other European leaders and President Putin lead me to believe that a better atmosphere is developing."
They will discuss sanctions on Iraq and the role of the United Nations in achieving a stable government there.
Come on Tony, you know better than this.
Just because a rift between Europe and your best friend, the U.S., may not be good for merry old England it is not the makings of anything like another Cold War. Time to wake up and smell the coffee. What you see in the actions of France and to some exent Russia and Germany is mostly just old fashioned jelousy. Add to that their natural fear (soon if not already realized) that their pre-war illegal trade with Iraq will be uncovered and the equally strong fear that they will lose out in the race for post-war Iraqi contracts and trade and you have a formula that gives them no choice but to oppose the U.S.
In their hearts they know we were right to go in. Time heals all wounds. This too will pass.
David Gow
Tuesday April 29, 2003
The Guardian
Europe's three leading defence contractors - BAE Systems, EADS and Thales - yesterday joined forces to demand increased EU military spending to close the technological gap with the US.
The British, French and German groups, responding to the political divisions unleashed by the war in Iraq which underlined America's military superiority, urged greater consolidation of Europe's defence industry in land and naval systems.
In an open letter to EU governments on the eve of today's "old" Europe defence summit in Brussels, their chief executives backed a drive for a European armaments and strategic research agency. They called on governments, especially the Germans, to increase defence spending as the gap between European military procurement, now $40bn (£27.6bn), and that of the US, $125bn and rising, widens.
The chief executives said: "We need to address the gap between the two sides of the Atlantic in order for Europe to be seen as a credible player on the international stage and a reliable partner of the US."
But they courted controversy by demanding "protection" of Europe's defence technological and industrial base in future procurement decisions - on American lines.
Daniel Keohane, defence research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, said: "The European defence industry is facing a crisis, and both it and taxpayers need a more open market."
Hmmmmmm
France, Germany Luxembourg, and Belgium?
MEMO TO BLAIR:
Face the new reality -- the damage is done. France has broken with NATO, and betrayed both Britain and the U.S., while conspiring with Saddam Hussein and Russia.
Deal with it.
Winston Churchill
Listen to Him Tony
Yup. FDR's Commie Alger Hiss wrote the original UN Charter.
Alger Hiss
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