Tuesday, White House spokesperson Ari Fleischer insisted that "the President is not offering quid pro quos" to other countries for their tacit support to invade Iraq. The following analysts take issue with such claims:
SARAH ANDERSON, PHYLLIS BENNIS, JOHN CAVANAGH, saraha@igc.org
The Institute for Policy Studies is releasing a report today - "Coalition of the Willing or Coalition of the Coerced?" - which charges that member representatives on the U.N. Security Council are being recruited through coercion, bullying, and bribery. Anderson is a fellow at IPS specializing in global economy issues, Bennis is a Mideast and U.N. expert and Cavanagh is the director of the organization. The report is available at:
http://www.ips-dc.org/coalition.htm
The report notes that during the build-up to the first Gulf War, the U.S. government "bribed China with post-Tienanmen Square diplomatic rehabilitation... The votes of several poor countries on the Council were purchased... And when Yemen ... voted against the resolution authorizing war, a U.S. diplomat told the Yemeni ambassador, 'that will be the most expensive "no" vote you ever cast.' Three days later the U.S. cut its entire aid budget to Yemen."
SARAH ANDERSON, PHYLLIS BENNIS, JOHN CAVANAGH, saraha@igc.org
The Institute for Policy Studies is releasing a report today - "Coalition of the Willing or Coalition of the Coerced?" - which charges that member representatives on the U.N. Security Council are being recruited through coercion, bullying, and bribery. Anderson is a fellow at IPS specializing in global economy issues, Bennis is a Mideast and U.N. expert and Cavanagh is the director of the organization. The report is available at:
http://www.ips-dc.org/coalition.htm
The report notes that during the build-up to the first Gulf War, the U.S. government "bribed China with post-Tienanmen Square diplomatic rehabilitation... The votes of several poor countries on the Council were purchased... And when Yemen ... voted against the resolution authorizing war, a U.S. diplomat told the Yemeni ambassador, 'that will be the most expensive "no" vote you ever cast.' Three days later the U.S. cut its entire aid budget to Yemen."