Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Today
NATO Trying to Reach Consensus on Policy This Morning
Aired February 11, 2003 - 11:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Now to NATO. Will it be a go-slow approach favored by Paris and Berlin, or will Washington, seen as trigger happy by many Europeans, get its way? NATO is trying to reach a consensus on policy this morning, in particular whether it's time to take steps necessary to protect NATO member Turkey in case war in Iraq comes.
CNN's Matthew Chance is monitoring NATO's emergency meeting in Brussels. Let's go to him right now live to get the very latest.
Hello to you, Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thank you, Leon.
And that emergency meeting has been set back again for several hours, while NATO diplomats conduct negotiations behind the scenes to try and reach consensus, find some kind of solution to a problem that even NATO officials say cuts to the core of the NATO alliance. France, Germany and Belgium along with the other 16 members are in disagreement over what to do with Turkey. The country has requested, of course, NATO assistance to bolster its defenses in the lead-up to the possibility of war with Iraq.
France, though, saying that the time is not right for that, that it thinks that would send a message that the decision to go to war has already been taken. France also wanting, along with Germany and Belgium, to give the United Nations diplomatic efforts more time to bring to a peaceful end the diplomatic crisis and the crisis in Iraq. That position, obviously, a great source of frustration for the 16 other members of the NATO alliance here at the alliance headquarters.
Jack Straw is the foreign secretary of Britain. He was earlier warning members of the alliance what their obligations were.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACK STRAW, BRITISH FOREIGN SECY.: This is a serious issue. Inaction in the face of a threat to an ally risks the solemn commitments that underlie the North Atlantic Treaty and would undermine the trans-Atlantic defense relationship, which served every ally so well during the Korean War and turbulent decade which followed. That treaty remains a fundamental basis for our defense against the new threats which confront us today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHANCE: Once more, despite the words from Jack Straw, the U.S. is insisting that if NATO doesn't come through on this, that it will move ahead unilaterally and give Turkey the military assistance it requires in order for its defenses to be bolstered, but said it won't wait for NATO. But obviously, that's a point of big concern for NATO officials as well. They don't want their organization to become irrelevant out of all this.
HARRIS: Yes, and that term "irrelevant" is one that we heard kicked around Washington quite of late. You got to think that's not a welcome word there in Brussels.
Matthew, let me ask you this, we just heard Jack Straw in that soundbite you just played us, We heard him say this is a serious situation; we did not hear him use the word "crisis." What are you hearing there? Do people there believe that this is a crisis, and that perhaps this is something that is not going to be solved very quickly?
CHANCE: Crisis -- certainly a period of great despite, great divisions amongst the NATO allies. The NATO officials we've been speaking to saying, this is indeed a dispute that is extremely serious, perhaps one of the most serious issues to have been confronted with the NATO alliance since its inception 54 years ago.
The problem is, of course, the whole basis of the NATO alliance, is that if any country feels threatened or comes under attack, even if it feels threatened from another, all of the countries from the alliance should get together and give it the support that it needs. At the moment, Turkey is asking for that support, but the support isn't forthcoming from this alliance. So it takes away, in the eyes of many countries, the whole reason for being in the alliance in the first place.
HARRIS: Matthew Chance in Brussels. Thank you, Matthew.
Get back to us when you hear something new develop there. Appreciate it.
Now, does NATO's opinion even better when it comes to Iraq policy? We'll explore the relevance of the Cold War alliance with our senior political analyst Bill Schneider coming up in the half hour, so stay with us for that.
In the meantime, the Bush team seems to be left high and dry by some of the Europeans, as we've been seeing and hearing, now coming from Europe, but it's closely watching for movement at that NATO meeting.
CNN's senior White House correspondent John King joins us now. He is at the White House with more -- John.
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT : Hello, Leon.
The White House trying to stress the point that it is a distinct and a small minority within NATO holding up aid to Turkey right now. There are a lot of accounts portray this as the United States versus Europe. The White House saying, no, that most of the NATO members are on board, and just those three, France, German and Belgium, holding up the plans right now.
Also, a cautious sense of optimism here. The president, we saw him earlier today walking the grounds at the White House, going across to the executive office building for a meeting, he is keeping track of these events, urgent diplomacy under way. Some talks here behind the scenes of perhaps reaching a compromise within the next several hours, or at least within the next day or so.
Ari Fleischer, the White House press secretary, saying this is a setback for unity and a setback for Europe, but a setback the president believes will be temporary.
Now, why is this important? Certainly the United States wants to get those resources on the ground to help defend Turkey in the case of war in Iraq, but it all is a reflection of the broader disagreements, France and others in Europe, saying the Bush administration appears to be in a rush for war, so they're trying to stop this deployment.
The United States saying it is critical that the alliance must stand united and show it is prepared for war if you want to convince Saddam Hussein that he must disarm immediately.
So both a philosophical approach and a policy approach. NATO confrontation trying to be resolved right now, Leon, and then the debate will move to New York in the United Nations Security Council. A critical week ahead for Bush administration diplomacy.
HARRIS: Yes, things get even more interesting as the days go by, go by.
Thanks John, John King, at the White House.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired February 11, 2003 - 11:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Now to NATO. Will it be a go-slow approach favored by Paris and Berlin, or will Washington, seen as trigger happy by many Europeans, get its way? NATO is trying to reach a consensus on policy this morning, in particular whether it's time to take steps necessary to protect NATO member Turkey in case war in Iraq comes.
CNN's Matthew Chance is monitoring NATO's emergency meeting in Brussels. Let's go to him right now live to get the very latest.
Hello to you, Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thank you, Leon.
And that emergency meeting has been set back again for several hours, while NATO diplomats conduct negotiations behind the scenes to try and reach consensus, find some kind of solution to a problem that even NATO officials say cuts to the core of the NATO alliance. France, Germany and Belgium along with the other 16 members are in disagreement over what to do with Turkey. The country has requested, of course, NATO assistance to bolster its defenses in the lead-up to the possibility of war with Iraq.
France, though, saying that the time is not right for that, that it thinks that would send a message that the decision to go to war has already been taken. France also wanting, along with Germany and Belgium, to give the United Nations diplomatic efforts more time to bring to a peaceful end the diplomatic crisis and the crisis in Iraq. That position, obviously, a great source of frustration for the 16 other members of the NATO alliance here at the alliance headquarters.
Jack Straw is the foreign secretary of Britain. He was earlier warning members of the alliance what their obligations were.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACK STRAW, BRITISH FOREIGN SECY.: This is a serious issue. Inaction in the face of a threat to an ally risks the solemn commitments that underlie the North Atlantic Treaty and would undermine the trans-Atlantic defense relationship, which served every ally so well during the Korean War and turbulent decade which followed. That treaty remains a fundamental basis for our defense against the new threats which confront us today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHANCE: Once more, despite the words from Jack Straw, the U.S. is insisting that if NATO doesn't come through on this, that it will move ahead unilaterally and give Turkey the military assistance it requires in order for its defenses to be bolstered, but said it won't wait for NATO. But obviously, that's a point of big concern for NATO officials as well. They don't want their organization to become irrelevant out of all this.
HARRIS: Yes, and that term "irrelevant" is one that we heard kicked around Washington quite of late. You got to think that's not a welcome word there in Brussels.
Matthew, let me ask you this, we just heard Jack Straw in that soundbite you just played us, We heard him say this is a serious situation; we did not hear him use the word "crisis." What are you hearing there? Do people there believe that this is a crisis, and that perhaps this is something that is not going to be solved very quickly?
CHANCE: Crisis -- certainly a period of great despite, great divisions amongst the NATO allies. The NATO officials we've been speaking to saying, this is indeed a dispute that is extremely serious, perhaps one of the most serious issues to have been confronted with the NATO alliance since its inception 54 years ago.
The problem is, of course, the whole basis of the NATO alliance, is that if any country feels threatened or comes under attack, even if it feels threatened from another, all of the countries from the alliance should get together and give it the support that it needs. At the moment, Turkey is asking for that support, but the support isn't forthcoming from this alliance. So it takes away, in the eyes of many countries, the whole reason for being in the alliance in the first place.
HARRIS: Matthew Chance in Brussels. Thank you, Matthew.
Get back to us when you hear something new develop there. Appreciate it.
Now, does NATO's opinion even better when it comes to Iraq policy? We'll explore the relevance of the Cold War alliance with our senior political analyst Bill Schneider coming up in the half hour, so stay with us for that.
In the meantime, the Bush team seems to be left high and dry by some of the Europeans, as we've been seeing and hearing, now coming from Europe, but it's closely watching for movement at that NATO meeting.
CNN's senior White House correspondent John King joins us now. He is at the White House with more -- John.
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT : Hello, Leon.
The White House trying to stress the point that it is a distinct and a small minority within NATO holding up aid to Turkey right now. There are a lot of accounts portray this as the United States versus Europe. The White House saying, no, that most of the NATO members are on board, and just those three, France, German and Belgium, holding up the plans right now.
Also, a cautious sense of optimism here. The president, we saw him earlier today walking the grounds at the White House, going across to the executive office building for a meeting, he is keeping track of these events, urgent diplomacy under way. Some talks here behind the scenes of perhaps reaching a compromise within the next several hours, or at least within the next day or so.
Ari Fleischer, the White House press secretary, saying this is a setback for unity and a setback for Europe, but a setback the president believes will be temporary.
Now, why is this important? Certainly the United States wants to get those resources on the ground to help defend Turkey in the case of war in Iraq, but it all is a reflection of the broader disagreements, France and others in Europe, saying the Bush administration appears to be in a rush for war, so they're trying to stop this deployment.
The United States saying it is critical that the alliance must stand united and show it is prepared for war if you want to convince Saddam Hussein that he must disarm immediately.
So both a philosophical approach and a policy approach. NATO confrontation trying to be resolved right now, Leon, and then the debate will move to New York in the United Nations Security Council. A critical week ahead for Bush administration diplomacy.
HARRIS: Yes, things get even more interesting as the days go by, go by.
Thanks John, John King, at the White House.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
