[Media-watch] Iraq War 'May Have Been a Mistake': Italian Minister

[Sigi D]

Dear Media Watch friends, 
the following is from the Common Dreams website
(Article from Agence France Presse)
LPH
S

 http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0318-02.htm
Published on Thursday, March 18, 2004 by Agence France
Presse 

Iraq War 'May Have Been a Mistake': Italian Minister 


 
ROME - An Italian minister broke ranks with his
pro-war government on Iraq, telling a newspaper that
last year's invasion could have been a mistake, and
was in any case not the best thing to have done. 


"The war may have been a mistake. Perhaps there were
ways it could have been avoided," said European
Affairs Minister Rocco Buttiglione in an interview
published Thursday by the daily newspaper Il
Messaggero. 

"What is certain is that it wasn't the best thing to
do," he added. 

"Terrorism cannot be defeated only by the force of
arms, and if we give the impression that weapons play
the dominant role, we will only stir up nationalist
feelings among the Arabs against us," he added. 

The statement, the first apparent crack in the unity
of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Iraq, came two
days before the first anniversary of the US-led
invasion, which Berlusconi has strongly backed. 

It also came a week after the devastating bomb attacks
in Madrid, which killed over 200 people and injured
around 1,500. 

Buttiglione said he didn't believe that democracy in
the Middle East could be achieved through war or
because Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein has been toppled. 

"Arab democracy will not be born through the force of
arms or because we have defeated Saddam," he said. 

"It can be achieved through a policy of peace,
cultural exchanges, inter-religious dialogue and
development aid," he said. 

He added that he favored a stronger UN role in Iraq in
order to give legitimacy to the country's interim
Governing Council and the foreign military presence. 

Buttiglione is a member of the Italian Christian
Democratic Party, one of the partners in Berlusconi's
coalition government. 

Italy has some 3,000 troops in Iraq.

© 2004 AFP

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