January 24, 2003	Friday	Ziqa’ad 20, 1423

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WASHINGTON, Jan 23: The US State Department has claimed that should the United States decide to take military action against Iraq, other nations will support the action despite an initial disagreement.

The State Department’s assessment came a day after France and Germany on Wednesday pledged to work together to prevent the war.

“We believe that, should we decide it necessary to use military force, ... there would be other governments, other countries that might want to join us in that,” State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said at a briefing in Washington.

“But at this point, ... we have not made a decision on military action,” he added.

Referring to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, Mr Boucher said the United States believed “this dictator ... would continue to be able to develop the wherewithal to attempt to dominate and intimidate a vital region of the earth” and this, he added, “affects not only our national interests, but the interests of many other nations, including those who are there”.

Boucher, however, assured the international community that Washington would consider all consequences before deciding to launch an offensive against Iraq.

He said Washington was not surprised by a joint declaration by France and Germany, which said that they need more time to determine if Iraq really had banned weapons and that every avenue should be explored to avoid an invasion.

“We’re quite familiar with their views. We’ve discussed it. We’ve had some back-and-forth with them, and we’ve said, ‘well, let’s look honestly at the reports on Monday and address — continue to address — these issues’. So the views themselves are not any particular surprise,” said Mr Boucher.

So far, most worrying for Washington is the hint from France that it might use its Security Council veto to prevent a UN resolution supporting war. France is one of the five permanent members of the council.

But it’s not just America’s allies who are reluctant to support the military offensive. A recent survey by the Washington-based Pew Research Centre for the People and the Press reveals that the Bush administration may face a major challenge in winning public support for the use of force if UN weapons inspections do not yield evidence that Iraq has been hiding weapons of mass destruction. More than half — 53 per cent — of the respondents said the president had not yet explained clearly what was at stake to justify war.

President Bush’s Iraq stance is also facing criticism from Democratic lawmakers who were previously silent on the issue. On Tuesday, Senator Edward Kennedy said that North Korea’s intention to make weapons of mass destruction was more dangerous than that of Iraq.

Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle said on Wednesday that Mr Bush would commit a huge mistake if he went ahead with the war “without the support of America’s allies”.

At the State Department briefing, Mr Boucher said Jan 27 — when UN inspectors are expected to present their report on the Iraqi weapons — was not a trigger for war or a drop-dead date.