Posted on 05/15/2003 9:46:15 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
PARIS A senior policymaker in the Bush administration, Richard Haass, shrugged off widespread criticism and hostility toward America on Thursday as a misunderstanding of Washington's "benign" foreign policy.
And while he agreed that France was being "punished" for opposing President George W. Bush on Iraq, he said the French had an opportunity to get back into America's good books by going along with a U.S. resolution in the UN Security Council to lift Iraq sanctions.
Haass, director of policy planning at the State Department, told reporters in Paris, where he was holding talks with French officials: "Allow me a bit of American chauvinism. I think the aims of the United States in the world are for the most part benign. People may disagree with some of our policies. I respect that, but most of what the United States is doing is benign, and I don't see it in any way as hostile to the interests of France or any other country."
Asked if such views were not a sign of being out of touch with what Europeans are thinking, Haass replied, "I'm not naive." But he said anti-Americanism was inevitable in relations between countries of unequal might and was in any case no worse than during the Vietnam War or during the opposition to American intervention in Central America.
Haass said the United States opposed arms proliferation and terrorism, sought to resolve regional conflicts and promoted democracy and free trade.
"This is not a narrowly pro-American agenda at the expense of anyone else, including France." he said.
He declined to comment on an accusation by the French ambassador in Washington that administration sources had fomented a damaging campaign against France.
But asked how the administration is going to carry out its threat to make France pay for its opposition to the U.S.-$ led war in Iraq, Haass replied, "I think France has paid some price already, and by that I mean that its reputation in the United States has taken a hit."
Haass said that the U.S. resolution was "an important opportunity to get things right," adding, "It will have a tremendous impact on the future of Iraq but also have the potential to have a significant impact on U.S.-French relations."
The United States wants sanctions lifted so that it can legally begin exploiting Iraq's oil wealth, although it insists that this exploitation will be entirely in the interests of the Iraqi people.
"I am upbeat about the potential to come to an agreement on this resolution," Haass said. "I think everyone understands it is in everyone's interest to help the Iraqis rebuild their country, making it a functioning open political system, a functioning economy. The resolution is an essential way station to get from here to there."
I think you mean whine.
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