Euro Allies Put Brakes On Iraq Attack

French President Jacques Chirac said Wednesday that he favors giving U.N. weapons inspectors several months to search Iraq for prohibited arms.

In an interview on national television, Chirac indicated he favored granting a request by the United Nation's chief inspectors for more time to determine whether Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein is hiding weapons of mass destruction.

"An extra delay is necessary," Chirac said on France-2 television.

When questioned about where he favored an extension of several weeks or several months, Chirac responded that U.N. chief nuclear weapons inspector, Mohamed ElBaradei "had asked for several months."

The comment was widely taken to mean that Chirac backs ElBaradei's request for more time to determine whether Baghdad maintains prohibited stockpiles of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons.

In an unusual public face-off, Secretary of State Colin Powell says he doubts whether France is serious about facing up to Iraq's defiance of the United Nations.

Powell suggested on PBS' "NewsHour" that "there are some nations in the world who would like to simply turn away from this problem, pretend it isn't there."

On Tuesday, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder suggested his government would oppose or abstain from a new resolution sanctioning war.

Schroeder had already refused to commit troops to any such war, but hedged on whether he'd back U.N. approval for any action. At a party rally Tuesday night, he aligned himself closely with the French by voicing skepticism over the justification for conflict.

"Don't expect Germany to approve a resolution legitimizing war, don't expect it," Schroeder said.

Just a day earlier, the United States mounted a coordinated diplomatic offensive aimed at getting reluctant allies to back military action.

Clearly displaying his irritation, President Bush mocked calls to give inspectors beyond their Jan. 27 report to complete their job.

"This business about more time, how much time do we need to see clearly that he's not disarming?" Mr. Bush told reporters."

But as CBS News Correspondent David Martin reports, although the U.S. military is still weeks away from being ready to launch an invasion of Iraq, Mr. Bush's psychological warfare is already in high gear.

Pentagon officials say they have received intelligence reports that some members of the Iraqi government are arguing among themselves about whether to fight if the U.S. invades.

The U.S. has sent e-mails to specific Iraq leaders, calling on them to defect. No one expects them to swtich sides over the Internet, but the electronic appeals caused enough consternation that Baghdad temporarily shut down its Internet server.

For weeks, U.S. military aircrafts have been dropping leaflets and broadcasting anti-Saddam messages over southern Iraq, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announced a new program allowing Iraqis to hear about the American military buildup just across the border in Kuwait and what might be in store for them if they choose to fight, Martin reports.

Britain, meanwhile, would support a U.S.-led war on Iraq without United Nations backing if any countries imposed an "unreasonable blockage" on a new Security Council resolution, Prime Minister Tony Blair said Wednesday.
Blair told lawmakers in the House of Commons that Britain "would support (military action) in circumstances of a second U.N. resolution, and we would support it ... where it was clear there was a breach by Saddam and there was an unreasonable blockage of a Security Council resolution."

Despite Germany's reluctance to vote for military action against Saddam Hussein, Britain expressed confidence the United Nations would stand up to any defiance from Iraq.

"The U.N. will accept its responsibilities in this matter and make sure that Saddam Hussein does not get away with what he has been getting away with for years," Foreign Office minister Denis MacShane told British Broadcasting Corp. radio.

The United States and Britain have threatened to use force to disarm Iraq if it does not prove it has given up its alleged chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs, as required by U.N. Security Council resolutions. Iraq maintains it has no banned weapons.

Blair has repeatedly said he would prefer a second Security Council resolution authorizing any military action, but has not ruled out joining U.S.-led action without it.

On Tuesday, Schroeder said Germany would not send any troops to fight in Iraq and added that he had told French officials: "Don't expect Germany to approve a resolution legitimizing war, don't expect it."

Germany has no veto powers on the 15-nation Security Council, but is set for a pivotal role on the council when it takes over the chair from France next month.

While countries including France, Russia and China have called for weapons inspectors to be given more time to search Iraq for weapons of mass destruction, President Bush warned Tuesday that time was running out for Saddam. The inspectors are due to deliver a report to the United Nations on Jan. 27, which the United States says could prove Iraq is failing to comply with demands that it disarm.

In the House of Commons Wednesday, Blair said the inspectors must be given time to do their job, but stressed that their role "is not to play an elaborate game of hide and seek with Saddam."

Iraq, he said, had a "duty of cooperation" to reveal all stocks of banned weapons.

And he said inspectors would not have been able to go back to Iraq unless "a tough and insistent position had been taken by the U.S. Britain and others."

Britain is sending 35,000 troops — including a quarter of its army — to the Gulf region for possible military action against Iraq.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw flew to Washington on Wednesday to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell. The Foreign Office said the two would discuss "international issues including Iraq."

Opposition to a war remains strong within Blair's governing Labor Party, and legislators criticized Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon when he defended the prime minister's Iraq policy during a parliamentary debate.

Labor lawmaker Bob Marshall-Andrews said U.S. policy was being driven by a "ghastly mixture of fundamental Christian evangelism, the ruthless Zionism and the oil economy," and argued that if such forces were allowed to control British decision-making they "would bring us nothing but disaster."

Dissenters were unable to vote on any Iraq-related motions, but chose to express their opposition to Blair's tough stance in a symbolic ballot.

Fifty-three legislators — 41 of them Labor members — voted against adjourning the House of Commons at the end of the session. The chamber closed anyway.