France Reaches Out to U.S. After Attack in Iraq
November 14, 2003
"I'm reaching out to the Americans," Dominique de Villepin, France's foreign minister, said after Wednesday's attack in the southern town of Nasiriya, which left at least 19 Italians and nine Iraqis dead.
Villepin said his government was prepared to participate in any meetings or consultations with the Americans. "What is at stake here concerns us all. We're talking about global security," he said.
Meanwhile, German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who has repeatedly said his country won't send troops to Iraq, expressed his condolences to the Italian people in a letter to Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Much of Italy remained in shock on Thursday following the attack that killed so many members of the country's paramilitary Carabinieri police unit. The apparent suicide attack resulted in the single largest loss of life for the Italian Armed Forces since World War II.
Although the incident is likely to stoke anti-war sentiment in the country, Berlusconi said Rome would stay committed to stabilizing Iraq. While the government in Rome strongly supported the U.S.-led war to oust Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, many Italians were against the war.
Japan delays sending troops
The attack also influenced other nations' policies towards Iraq. While Japan had originally planned to sent 150 troops to the country by the end of the year, government officials said on Thursday that this is unlikely to happen any time soon.
In July, the Japanese parliament had passed a law prohibiting the government from sending soldiers to combat zones. "We can deploy self-defense units if the circumstances allow it," a spokesman for the Japanese government said. "But that's not the way things are at the moment."
The Japanese soldiers were supposed to be stationed in a town about 80 kilometers (50 miles) northwest of Nasiriya. Early next year, Tokio wanted to expand its presence in Iraq to up to 700 troops.
After the attack, Portugal decided to go ahead and send 128 soldiers to Iraq, stationing them in Basra and not in Nasiriya as expected.