European Commission President Romano Prodi said he had no doubt that the Italian left, if elected, would end the nation's military involvement in the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq. Prodi, in a letter published Saturday on the front-page of the Milan daily Corriere della Sera, called the Iraqi occupation the continuation of an illegitimate war that is incapable of restoring peace.
| Yet another fine example of ideology blinding someone to reality. |
In the letter, Prodi was identified as a top EU official, but his words are believed to reflect his position as a leader of the Olive Tree, a grouping of Italian political parties ranging from former Communists to centrists. Olive Tree will try to unseat Premier Silvio Berlusconi's conservative government in the next parliamentary elections, and Prodi is the presumed challenger for the premiership. Should Olive Tree come to power, "the problem would be to decide whether to continue or interrupt the participation in this war, (and) I have no hesitation in saying that the choice would be ending the intervention," Prodi wrote. Parliamentary elections are scheduled for spring 2006. Despite calling for an end to intervention as now being conducted, Prodi said military force remained necessary because of "anarchy and disorder" in Iraq. The population there must be protected from the risk of civil war and possible terrorism which could root itself in the chaos, he said. To provide this security, "the intervention of the international community is fully justified, no, even indispensable," he said.
| Prodi could give John Effing Kerry lessons in being both for and against something. |
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