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February 25, 2003

More "Coalition of the Bribed"

Again, any coalition for war looks to be a coalition based on bribery and threats against small countries. MSNBC even has the administration bragging that while they can't get the support of strong countries like Russia or China, they can use pressure and bribes to win over less powerful Security Council members:

As of Monday, the United States and Britain were only guaranteed two other votes, those of Spain and Bulgaria.
In addition to France, Germany — and to a lesser extent Russia and China — are resisting what they consider a rush to war.
But diplomatic sources said that the six nations on the sidelines — Angola, Cameroon, Chile, Guinea, Mexico and Pakistan — will likely be won over by a series of “inducements” offered by the United States...But [these countires] are expected to stand ultimately with the United States, won over by a mixture of financial and other inducements, strategic self-interest to stay close the world’s sole superpower and serious diplomatic arm-twisting.

So much for the "coalition of the willing" based on any principle other than US power, threats and economic bribery.

Update: Ari Fleischer, comedian (from White House transcript):

Q -- the French press is quoting actually two different diplomats from the United States State Department that -- they're highlighting that the United States is giving some sort of agreements or benefits to Colombia -- and other non-members of the Security Council --

MR. FLEISCHER: I haven't seen the story. And you already have the answer, about what this will be decided on. But think about the implications of what you're saying. You're saying that the leaders of other nations are buyable. And that is not an acceptable proposition. (Laughter.)

Even the press can't take this coalition as a serious alliance beyond the bribes offered by the US. Note, the laughter part of the transcript is from the official White House transcript!

Posted by Nathan at February 25, 2003 12:23 PM

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