MADRID — Spain's incoming foreign policy chief says the new Socialist government wants to repair the rift with the United States over the impending Spanish troop withdrawal from Iraq by cooperating in the war on terrorism. "I commit myself to go to Washington immediately," said Moratinos, a former ambassador to Israel who is set to be foreign minister under the government of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. Zapatero was elected in an upset three days after the Madrid bombing March 11. "You can have a good strategy against terror, you can make Iraq democratic," Moratinos said, but those initiatives will fail unless world leaders realize "the heart of the problem is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."
| Sounds like a socialist, all right. "We can't solve the world's problems til them Jooos finally roll over!" |
After Zapatero's victory, President Bush said, "This (terrorist) enemy will never be appeased." Moratinos bristled at the statement. "What appeasement? We're not in Munich now. These are old slogans," he said, referring to the Munich talks of 1938.
Spain's new government won't appease Washington by saying, "yes sir, yes sir, yes sir," Moratinos said. But he added, "We don't want to be controversial. We look to the future. You will find Spain to be a most close ally to engage in the common goal of giving Iraqis a sense of freedom though we're going to back out of doing any of the heavy lifting." He also said fighting terrorism would be "priority No. 1 unless more bombs go off in Madrid."
Tensions between the incoming Spanish government — expected to take office in late April — and the Bush administration worsened when Secretary of State Colin Powell complained of being kept waiting 40 minutes to meet Zapatero after a state funeral last week for the Madrid victims. Moratinos called the delay a misunderstanding caused by the memorial service running longer than expected.
Security Council members have been discussing a way to establish a larger U.N. security role in Iraq. But Zapatero has set June 30 as a deadline for pulling Spain's troops out. Moratinos said a U.N. agreement was unlikely ever by then. |