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Kissinger discourages exiting Iraq early
5.11.2005
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BRUSSELS, Belgium
- Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger
warned against an early withdrawal of U.S.-led
coalition forces from Iraq, saying such a move would
bolster insurgents and terrorists worldwide, causing
instability across the Middle East.
He also warned that European Union nations and
Washington needed to find another way to get Iran to
stop the development of its nuclear program, which
the EU and US fear is being used to make nuclear
weapons. Iran insists its nuclear program is for
peaceful purposes.
Kissinger, in a speech Friday to top NATO officers
and officials, said Iran's nuclear program and
terrorism continued to pose a tough challenge for
trans-Atlantic ties, and warned also that Iran could
use nuclear weapons as a way to protect itself while
continuing to promote terrorist groups.
"They (weapons) can become a shield by which to step
up terrorist actions," said Kissinger, who was
secretary of state and national security adviser
under U.S. presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.
He retains substantial influence in foreign affairs,
and continues to have close links to the
administration of U.S. President George W. Bush.
Saying an early pullout of U.S. forces from Iraq
would have disastrous consequences for regional
stability, Kissinger made clear Friday that he
supported Bush's Iraq policy.
"To argue that a collapse of the United States in
Iraq would not have consequences ... is simply
living in a dream world," the former top U.S.
diplomat said. "Shockwaves would ripple throughout
the Islamic world."
Terrorists and opponents of governments across the
Arab world — such as in Egypt and Saudi Arabia,
which support Washington — would be encouraged by an
early withdrawal of the American military from Iraq,
he said. A U.S. military withdrawal would "embolden
their attacks on existing governments."
He said he hoped that, when a new government is
elected in Iraq next month, "a combination of
legitimacy and training of troops of the Iraqi army
will improve (the) security situation."
Nevertheless, the 82-year-old Kissinger said
upcoming U.S. congressional elections would have an
effect on the debate of how long U.S. troops would
remain in Iraq.
U.S. politicians opposed to Bush's Iraq troop
commitments have called on him to clarify a timeline
for reducing troop levels, saying the losses U.S.
troops are suffering there are untenable due to the
continued violent attacks against them.
"The challenge we now have is to generate enough
patience," he said.
Kissinger did not touch on the sensitive issue of
whether Washington's European allies should
contribute more troops to rebuilding Iraq, nor did
he suggest NATO take a larger role in Iraq. NATO
members, notably France and Germany, were opposed to
the alliance playing a key role in providing
peacekeepers to Iraq, and also opposed the U.S.-led
war there.
NATO opened a long-awaited training academy for the
Iraqi military last month, which aims to train 1,000
officers a year, as part of the alliance's limited
role there. The 26-nation alliance will also supply
equipment, such as used tanks, said U.S. Gen. James
L. Jones, NATO's supreme commander in Europe.
"Currently we have 77 Hungarian T-72 tanks en route
to be delivered to the Iraqi army, which is
obviously is going to make an important difference
in their capabilities," Jones told reporters.
In his speech, Kissinger also touched on other
challenges ahead, saying European nations had to
accept that their continent was no longer
Washington's top concern. Instead, he said, the rise
of China and India and other Asian powers was now
the key focus.
Both European countries and the United States,
however, had to work closer together to coordinate
new policies for Asia and for other top issues such
as terrorism and nuclear proliferation, he said.
"There is not the commitment to the Atlantic
alliance that there was before," he said. The
question would be whether nations bordering the
Atlantic would "be able to develop cohesion and
coordination to address so vast an agenda."
AP
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