Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Meno America più Europa (dal ny times)

POLITICS 
Spain Will Loosen Its Alliance With U.S., Premier-Elect Says
By ELAINE SCIOLINO
Published: March 16, 2004
ADRID, March 15   Spain's newly elected Socialist prime minister 
pledged Monday to shift allegiance away from Washington to Paris and 
Berlin, a move that could lead to a reduction of American influence in 
Europe on a range of issues.
Meanwhile, American intelligence officials said Monday that they were 
now increasingly convinced that Muslim militants, not the Basque 
separatist group ETA, were responsible for the train bombings in Madrid 
on Thursday that killed 200 people and wounded 1,500.
European and United Nations diplomats complained that they felt misled 
by the outgoing Spanish government, which said after the bombing that 
ETA was to blame and pressed for a condemnation of ETA at the Security 
Council.
In his first remarks to reporters since his party's stunning defeat of 
the center-right Popular Party candidate on Sunday, Prime Minister-
elect José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero repeated his promise to pull Spanish 
troops from Iraq in the absence of a United Nations mandate. Such a 
mandate is considered likely, however, after the United States 
transfers sovereignty to Iraq in June.
Mr. Zapatero offered scathing criticism of the American-led war in 
Iraq, which his party, like 90 percent of the Spanish people, opposed.
"I want Europe to see us again as pro-European," he told the Spanish 
radio station Cadena Ser on Monday.
He added: "The war has been a disaster; the occupation continues to be 
a great disaster. It hasn't generated anything but more violence and 
hate. What simply cannot be is that after it became so clear how badly 
it was handled there be no consequences." He said President Bush and 
Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain "will have to reflect and engage 
in some self-criticism, so things like that don't happen again."
In a news conference at party headquarters later in the day, Mr. 
Zapatero pledged to repair relations with France and Germany, which 
were badly damaged when Spain supported the war in Iraq and France and 
Germany opposed it. "Spain is going to see eye to eye with Europe 
again," he said. "Spain is going to be more pro-Europe than ever. I am 
deeply convinced of that."
In that sense, Mr. Zapatero, despite his leftist leanings, will be 
moving closer to the foreign policy vision of the center-right 
government of France, where President Jacques Chirac has repeatedly 
called for the creation of a "multipolar" world in which Europe would 
become a counterweight to the United States and other centers of power.
Many Europeans view the war on Iraq as the latest in a series of 
unilateral American actions taken in defiance of European interests or 
wishes, including American decisions not to join treaties on the 
environment and the International Criminal Court. They see a more 
united Europe as a possible check to what is widely viewed in Europe as 
an American attempt to establish unchallenged global dominance.
Mr. Zapatero said his election would send a signal to other countries 
facing elections, including the United States, where Mr. Bush is likely 
to face Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts in the election in 
November, that if voters disapprove of the war in Iraq, and its 
occupation, they can take their protest to the polls and reverse policy.
"My impression is that what happened now that the Socialist government 
in Spain has taken power will have a great impact in the November 
elections in North America in the duel between Bush and Kerry," Mr. 
Zapatero said in the radio interview.
In Britain, Mr. Blair faces a similar situation in 2005. Most Britons 
opposed the war in Iraq. But the British foreign minister, Jack Straw, 
said turning away from Iraq and changing strategies in the campaign 
against terrorism would do more harm than good. "Nobody, nobody, nobody 
should believe that somehow we can opt out of the war against Islamic 
terrorism," he said. "The idea that, somehow, there is some exemption 
certificate for this war against terrorism is utter nonsense."
Miguel Ángel Moratinos, until recently a senior diplomat who is likely 
to be appointed foreign minister, said in a telephone interview that 
Spain's foreign policy "will be addressed with a whole different 
spirit."
"We need to engage with the American administration and President Bush 
in a positive manner, but on an equal footing," he said.
In the news conference on Monday, Mr. Zapatero repeated promises to 
withdraw Spain's troops from Iraq unless they are put under United 
Nations control, but he declined to set a deadline. 
But he noted that in the past he had said that without a United Nations 
mandate, he would withdraw troops by the end of June, when the United 
States has promised to hand power over to Iraqis
If Spain withdraws its troops, it would pose problems not only for the 
Bush administration but also for Poland. The Spanish contingent had 
been due on July 1 to take over control from Poland of the 9,000-member 
multinational force patrolling central and southern Iraq.
In Washington, the White House said that President Bush congratulated 
Mr. Zapatero and that the two leaders had pledged to work together on 
fighting terrorism.
"The two leaders said they both looked forward to working together, 
particularly on our shared commitment to fighting terrorism," said the 
White House spokesman, Scott McClellan. He did not answer the question 
of whether the Madrid bombings had influenced the Spanish elections.
Asked at the news conference whether Mr. Bush had congratulated him, 
Mr. Zapatero was cool, saying, "I have to confess that the list of 
congratulations is extremely long, and at this moment I haven't been 
able to look over them all. And I would run the risk of making a 
mistake, and I don't want to do that."
He emphasized, however, that his government "is going to be a 
government that maintains cordial relations with all the governments of 
the world, and naturally, with the government of the United States," 
despite, he added, "well-publicized differences."
Newspapers here were quick to say Monday that it was the assertion that 
Al Qaeda may be responsible for the train bombings that turned the 
election around. 
The outgoing prime minister, José María Aznar, was also criticized for 
his handling of the investigation of the train bombings. He was quick 
to blame ETA and then slow to back off the claim once evidence pointed 
toward Islamic militants, critics said. That led to charges that Mr. 
Aznar, and his would-be successor, were lying and hiding information to 
protect the party before the election. The government has said it 
followed all leads and released information to the public as soon as it 
could.
Keenly aware of the impact the Madrid bombings had on the vote on 
Sunday, Mr. Zapatero promised that fighting "all types of terrorism" 
would be his top priority.
In a separate interview, Diego López Garrido, a senior Socialist 
official and a constitutional law expert who could emerge as minister 
of defense, interior or justice, emphasized just how vulnerable Spain 
had become as a result of the Iraq war.
"Today we know that Spain is not safer," he said. As for relations with 
the United States, he added, "We want the best relations but not be 
subordinate to Bush," he said. 
As part of the current government's fight against terrorism, the 
Spanish interior minister, Ángel Acebes, announced at a news conference 
on Monday that a high-level meeting of European Union antiterrorist 
services would take place in Madrid "in the coming days" to "pool 
resources, exchange information and discuss future planning." 
Inviato da 
www.mynewsgate.net

 Published: March 16, 2004
bah, anche se interessante come opinione, devo dire che il NY times da un
paio di mesi a questa parte mi sta deludendo, e' peggio del Washington
Post a volte... ho letto il NY Times per diversi mesi e da poco ho tolto
l'abbonamento (anche perche' lo portavano tardi). Sono schifosamente
schierati (cosa che ammetto e capisco) e ormai molto poco obiettivi (cosa
che non ammetto da un giornale di fama come il NY Times).
Ciao,
    Enrico B.A.
-- 
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http://www.newsland.it/news
 segnala gli abusi ad 
ab...@newsland.it

 Ciao,
Forse è l'amministrazione americana a non essere obiettiva e in ogni caso 
la campagna elettorale è iniziata cosa ti aspetti? A dire la verità il ny 
times mi sembra un giornale sicuramente liberal ma estremamente 
equilibrato e obbiettivo. Se poi per te è obbiettivo il washtimes 
(appartente al reverendo hoon o moon) o la stampa di murdoch beh abbiamo 
due idee diverse di obbiettività.
Comunque vorrei che tu mi citassi un quotidiano usa obiettivo.
Inviato da 
www.mynewsgate.net

 Comunque vorrei che tu mi citassi un quotidiano usa obiettivo.
Dallas Morning News, Wall Street Journal, Star Telegram, USA Today
(abbastanza), Herald Tribune (anche se e' parte del NY Times).
