Los Angeles Times
2 more allies could pull out of Iraq
Wed Mar 17 02:58:46 2004
64.140.158.123

March 16, 2004, 11:26PM
2 more allies could pull out of Iraq
U.S. lobbying fails to change plans in Netherlands, Honduras
By PAUL RICHTER
Los Angeles Times
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/headline/world/2453203

WASHINGTON -- President Bush urged wavering members of the U.S.-led coalition Tuesday to keep their troops in Iraq, but his plea did not win over at least two nations that are considering joining Spain in plans to withdraw their forces by early summer.

As the White House downplayed suggestions that its coalition was beginning to fray, Bush lobbied the Dutch prime minister on the issue but won no commitment that 1,300 troops from the Netherlands would remain in Iraq beyond June. At the same time, Honduran officials said Tuesday they would pull their 370 troops out of Iraq during the summer in the absence of a new U.N. mandate, and diplomats speculated El Salvador and Guatemala could follow suit.

Spain's new Socialist leaders vowed this week to withdraw their 1,300 troops from Iraq by June 30 unless they were serving under a new U.N. mandate. Incoming Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriquez Zapatero's condemnations of U.S. and British war efforts has helped stimulate anti-war public sentiments in other countries.

A new poll showed two-thirds of Italians favor the withdrawal of 3,000 troops -- although Italy's leaders vowed to stand pat -- and opposition Dutch political parties called for force withdrawals.

Although small in number compared with the 110,000 U.S. troops, the other nations' forces are important for giving the war effort an international face, with 35 other nations now contributing troops. Besides the British, with 8,220 troops, the other coalition members have contributed a total of 14,680 troops.

In response, Bush on Tuesday argued that the United States and its allies must remain "strong and resolute and determined" in the fight against terrorism.

"I would remind Dutch citizens that al-Qaida has an interest in Iraq for a reason," Bush said after meeting Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende of the Netherlands, which is considering bringing its troops home in July. "They realize this is a front in the war on terror, and they fear the spread of freedom and democracy in places like the greater Middle East."

As he seeks to reassure allies, Bush planned Friday to speak at the White House to ambassadors from about 60 nations that have supported U.S.-led military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Bush said citizens in coalition countries should "think about the Iraqi citizens who don't want people to withdraw because they want to be free."

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UPDATES:
Searched news for Bush Iraq War.

Stay strong in face of terror: US
By Jennifer Loven
March 17, 2004 - 5:17PM
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/03/17/1079199282300.html

Stung by the political defeat of an ally in Spain, the US administration has sought to prevent any weakening of its coalition in Iraq and said terrorists must not be allowed to think they can influence elections or policy.

Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld expressed regret today at the decision of Spain's newly elected Socialist prime minister to pull 1,300 troops from southern Iraq unless the United Nations takes control of peacekeeping.

"Obviously one would prefer that more countries would come in rather than a country leave," Rumsfeld said in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation. Still, he said he was optimistic that the task in Iraq "will get done and it'll get done well," and he predicted that "you'll find other countries reacting just the opposite" of Spain.

Five days after bombings in Madrid killed 201 people and contributed to an election upset of the centre-right party of Jose Maria Aznar, the US administration tried to steel the nerves of other countries where anti-war sentiment runs high.

"Terrorists will kill innocent life in order to try to get the world to cower," President George W Bush told reporters.

"They'll kill innocent people to try to shake our will. That's what they want to do. And they'll never shake the will of the United States."

Incoming Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has harshly criticised the Iraq war, which was supported by Aznar. Most Spaniards opposed Aznar's stance, and many believed he made Spain a target for terrorists by his pro-US policies.

"I'll leave the analysis on the election to others," presidential press secretary Scott McClellan said. "It is the wrong message to let terrorists think that they can influence policy, that they can influence elections. ... You simply cannot make peace with terrorists."

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry expressed disappointment with some of Zapatero's comments. "In my judgment the new prime minister should not have said he was going to pull out of Iraq," Kerry told a Phoenix, Arizona, television station today. "He should have said this is going to increase our determination."

Yet the administration acknowledged that US allies could pay a price. An FBI official visiting Sydney warned that Australia should brace for a terrorist attack because of its close ties to Washington.

"Any country that allies itself with the United States, unfortunately, is a target," John Pistole, the FBI's executive assistant director for counterterrorism, told Sydney's 2UE radio station.

Bush and his aides said it was in the interest of all nations not to distance themselves from Washington but to help wage an aggressive battle against terrorism.

He met with Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, an ally in Iraq.

Warning that terrorists cannot be appeased, Bush said, "They have not only killed in Spain, they've killed in the United States, they've killed in Turkey, they've killed in Saudi Arabia. They kill wherever they can. And it's essential that the free world remain strong and resolute and determined."

Balkenende agreed. "It is important that the world society, international community stands shoulder-to-shoulder and shows its solidarity to fight against these terrible attacks," he said.

Bush was asked by a reporter about polls showing that most Dutch people want their country's troops withdrawn from Iraq - like some other countries that have contributed small numbers of soldiers to the US-dominated mission in Iraq.

"I would remind the Dutch citizens that al-Qaeda has an interest in Iraq for a reason, and that interest is, they realise this is a front in the war on terror, and they fear the spread of freedom and democracy in places like the greater Middle East," Bush said.

- AP