More inspection, not war, should follow U.S. report: RI<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Fresh suspicions fanned by a United States report over Iraq's
\nalleged hidden weapons of mass destruction should be used as case
\nfor intensified United Nations inspections, not war, Indonesia
\nsaid on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda refused to call
\nU.S. State Secretary Colin Powell's report on Iraq a smoking gun
\nthat justified war.<\/p>\n
\"For Indonesia this evidence must still be verified and
\nchecked further by the UN inspection team,\" he told reporters
\nfollowing a Cabinet meeting.<\/p>\n
Powell presented to the UN Security Council on Wednesday a
\nmulti-media case for considering Iraq in \"material breach\" of UN
\nresolution 1441. The resolution orders the disarmament of Iraq's
\nweapons of mass destruction.<\/p>\n
Powell drew a disturbing picture of Iraq maintaining and
\nproducing an arsenal of chemical and biological weapons, more
\nthan a decade after the UN had first ordered their destruction.<\/p>\n
Hassan described the information, pooled from telephone taps
\nand satellite photos, as intelligence reports.<\/p>\n
\"To the U.S. this may be enough to declare Iraq uncooperative
\nand launch a military strike.\" But Indonesia, he said, agreed
\nwith Germany, France and China to extend the work of the UN
\ninspection team in Iraq.<\/p>\n
\"The consequence of a war is too big to bear, not just for
\nIraq but also for the world,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Indonesia has demanded that any actions against Iraq should be
\ntaken under a UN framework, and said a U.S.-led unilateral strike
\nagainst Iraq was unacceptable.<\/p>\n
The U.S. has often intimated that it would not need a U.N.
\nmandate to attack Iraq, insisting that Baghdad posed too serious
\nthreat to be ignored.<\/p>\n
Powell's presentation did not alter the prospect of a war in
\nIraq since the U.S. had already made up its mind about it,
\nclaimed foreign political analyst Riza Sihbudi of the Indonesian
\nInstitute of Sciences (LIPI).<\/p>\n
\"The presentation was simply an effort to maintain U.S. ties
\nwith other countries,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Washington has been trying to woo skeptical allies such as
\nFrance and Germany into supporting a military strike. But its
\nmessage so far has been mostly akin to U.S. President George W.
\nBush's \"either you are with us or against us\" remark after the
\nSept. 11 terrorist strike.<\/p>\n
The U.S. ambassador in Berlin, Daniel Coats, said that
\n\"serious doubts\" were emerging in the U.S. as to whether Germany
\nwas still a reliable ally given its anti-war stance, AFP
\nreported.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's ties with the U.S. would also come under pressure
\nwith or without a U.N. mandated war in Iraq, foreign political
\nanalysts threatened.<\/p>\n
They warned the U.S. that it was exposing its interests here
\nto a risk of violent backlashes from radical groups should it
\nattack Iraq.<\/p>\n
Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, has seen
\na rise in anti-American sentiment since the U.S. launched its
\nglobal war on terrorism.<\/p>\n
Legislators reiterated on Thursday their objection to the U.S.
\ngoing it alone in Iraq, saying it would set a bad precedent to
\nthe world.<\/p>\n
Chairman of the House of Representatives Commission I on
\npolitical, security and foreign affairs, Ibrahim Ambong said the
\nU.S. could not attack Iraq if the UN's inspection team extended
\nits work in that country.<\/p>\n
Sutradara Ginting of the House's Indonesian Nationhood Unity
\n(KKI) faction warned of a rise in radicalism on the back of U.S.
\nwar talks.<\/p>\n
Numerous anti-U.S. demonstrations have led to tighter security
\nin and around the U.S. embassy in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
About half of its staff was sent home shortly before the first
\nanniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks as well as the Oct. 12 Bali
\nterror bombs, and embassy officials said they had no plans of
\nbringing them back.<\/p>\n
Brisk progress has been made in catching the alleged bombers
\nbehind the Bali blast, which killed at least seven American
\nvacationers, but as the extent of their network here was still
\nunclear, analysts said American interests remain at risk of
\nattack.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/more-inspection-not-war-should-follow-us-report-ri-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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