Newsgroup: it.politica
Titolo: pianta un coltello nella schiena di bush ? vatti a fidare dei bandanati

Berlusconi says warned Bush against Iraq war
Staff and agencies
30 October, 2005
By Phil Stewart Sat Oct 29,11:29 AM ET
ROME - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, on the eve of a trip to  
Washington, said he repeatedly tried to persuade U.S. President George W.  
Bush President George W. Bush against invading Iraq .
The Italian leader voiced his unease with the military operation to topple  
Saddam Hussein during a television interview to be broadcast on Monday --  
the same day he meets Bush.
Berlusconi is one of Washington‘s strongest allies but he did not send  
troops to join the invasion, preferring to dispatch troops only after the  
fall of Baghdad.
"I tried many times to convince the American president not to go to war,"  
Berlusconi was quoted as saying by La7 television network, which recorded  
the interview.
"I tried to find other avenues and other solutions, even through an  
activity with the African leader (Libya‘s Col. Muammar) Gaddafi. But we  
didn‘t succeed and there was the military operation."
One of Berlusconi‘s staff said he knew Berlusconi had given La7 television  
an interview, but could not confirm the comments. Berlusconi is scheduled  
to leave for Washington on Sunday.
Berlusconi pulled about 300 soldiers from Iraq earlier this year as part  
of a phased withdrawal, leaving about 2,900 troops there. He is trailing  
in opinion polls ahead of April elections to center-left rival, Romano  
Prodi, who promises to withdraw all Italian forces from Iraq if he is  
voted into office.
The context of Berlusconi‘s answers in the interview were unclear since  
La7 only provided small excerpts.
The Italian leader has been defending himself against accusations in Italy  
that the country‘s intelligence agency, possibly after government  
pressure, passed-off fake documents to Washington used to bolster claims  
of Iraq‘s nuclear ambitions.
The documents purported that Iraq was seeking to buy uranium from Niger.
His office has sent out two statements in the past week categorically  
denying the accusations, made by left-leaning La Repubblica newspaper.  
Sismi intelligence agency chief Nicolo Pollari is due to address a  
closed-door parliamentary panel over the matter on November 3.
Bush cited intelligence that Iraq sought uranium from Africa in his State  
of the Union address in 2003 before the Iraq war.
The claim fueled criticism from the husband of covert CIA operative Susan  
Plame, whose identity was later leaked, sparking a scandal that led to the  
indictment on Friday of Vice President Dick Cheney ‘s chief of staff,  
Lewis Libby.
"I have never been convinced that war was the best system to make a  
country democratic and help it escape dictatorship, even a bloody one,"  
Berlusconi was quoted as saying by La7.
-- 
http://www.heraldnewsdaily.com/stories/news-0092670.html
Ralph Barker
«Il voto a Bolzano ha portato la città ad assumere una funzione  
emblematica,
è il simbolo della riscossa partita da Catania e che ci riporterà, noi
dell'Italia moderata, a tornare in testa alle prossime elezioni».
  berlusconi silvio 30.05.2005


 
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 L'accoltellatore aveva la bandana rossa
Taci, scooter. 
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