inside the glass house

Veto power returns home to haunt America

NEW YORK-- As one of the late night TV comedians put it rather cynically, the United States is a step closer towards launching a

full scale war-- not against Iraq but against France, Germany and Belgium.
All three countries -- which have broken ranks with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) implicitly refusing to go along with a US led war against Iraq -- have come under heavy artillery fire.

Since hell hath no fury like a superpower scorned, the US has also turned its anger against the United Nations for holding back a resolution authorising the use of American military force against Iraq.

President Bush says that "free nations should not allow the UN to fade into history as an ineffective and irrelevant debating society."

In the US Congress last week, several Senators and Congressmen unleashed their fury against the three NATO allies threatening a trade war by proposing a ban on bottled Evian water from France and wine from Germany. Obviously, French poodles and German shepherds will not be left far behind.

Representative Peter King of New York facetiously called France "a second rate country" stopping short of labeling it a "corrupt third world nation".

One congressman even threatened to bring legislation barring US defense companies from taking part in the ultimate showpiece in military exhibitions-- the Paris Air Show which takes place in June.

The exhibition, which is held annually in LeBourget, is the biggest display of US military might and a veritable arms bazaar where American fighter planes, helicopters and missiles are on display for sale.

At a time when the US is unloading all its weapons in Third World markets in return for cooperation in the war against terrorism, a US move to boycott the Paris air show will be a disaster for US defence companies.

An American boycott, says a spokesman for the US Aerospace Industries Associaton, is not "sticking your finger in French eyes. That's sticking fingers in your own eyes."

Not surprisingly, the French and the Germans are also hitting back at the Americans. The US has not only made enemies in the Arab and Islamic world but also in parts of the Western world.

When the Academy Award nominations were announced in Hollywood last week, one comedian said that the final award ceremony to be televised globally next month will be watched in 113 nations -- ''all of which hate us'', he added.

The veto power, which the US has used ruthlessly to protect Israel against an overwhelming majority in the 15-member Security Council, has also come back to the haunt the Americans.

Since all decisions are taken only by consensus in the 19-nation NATO, it means that every single member has a veto power in that Atlantic military alliance.

France, Germany and Belgium exercised their vetoes by opposing a move to provide military equipment to protect Turkey in the event of a war against Iraq.

But 16 nations in NATO, including the US, favoured supporting Turkey. So, when the majority did not prevail, some democracy-conscious US officials pointed out that the US had an overwhelming majority in its favour-- an argument the US refuses to accept when it vetoes anti-Israeli resolutions supported by a majority of members in the Security Council.

In one of the last resolutions on the Middle East condemning Israel for the killings of UN humanitarian workers, the US exercised its veto rejecting the resolution despite the fact that 14 other members, including the veto-wielding Britain, France, China and Russia, had voted for the same resolution.

As of last week, the US was still not assured of Security Council blessings for a war on Iraq. But it could still get that resolution adopted if it can arm-twist nine votes -- and no vetoes. France, a veto-wielding permanent member in the Security Council, and Germany, a non-permanent member holding a two-year rotating seat beginning January, both want to give UN arms inspectors more time to search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

So far, French President Jacques Chirac has refused to compromise on his demand for a diplomatic solution to the problem. A resolution favouring war, he says, should be the last resort. But he has refused to put a marker on when that resolution will receive his blessings.

The veto-wielding members are the US, Britain, France, China and Russia. While Britain is the most steadfast US supporter, China and Russia remain ambivalent and may even abstain on a vote. But France is the only member that has threatened to exercise its veto.

The remaining 10 votes out for grabs are held by Bulgaria, Cameroon, Guinea, Mexico, Syria, Angola, Chile, Germany, Pakistan and Spain.

Since the monthly presidency of the Security Council is held in alphabetical rotation, the two countries chairing crucial meetings in the Council have been France in January, followed by Germany in the month of February.

As president, both countries have had ample room for political manoeuvring-- much to the dismay of Americans.

The speculation is that the US may push for a resolution next month when Guinea, a country that could relent under American pressure, takes over the presidency of the Security Council in March.

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