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Kissinger discourages exiting Iraq early
(AP)
Updated: 2005-11-05 16:06
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.
Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger
gestures while talking to the media during a press conference in a hotel
in Brussels, Friday Nov. 4, 2005. Kissinger on Friday warned against an
early withdrawal of U.S.-led coalition forces from Iraq, saying such a
move would bolster insurgents and terrorists.
[AP] |
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."
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