Iraq asks EU for help and gets a small fund...

[wolvie20m]

BRUSSELS, Belgium — Iraq's interim prime minister appealed to European countries with troops in Iraq not to pull out and asked NATO on Friday to speed up a major expansion in training Iraqi forces, while European leaders offered Iraq more money for elections and security,

At their annual summit, European Union (search) leaders also said they wanted to strengthen the 25-nation bloc's relationship with the newly re-elected President Bush (search), which was deeply strained by the Iraq war. The Dutch prime minister spoke with Bush by phone, passing on Europe's congratulations.

Prime Minister Ayad Allawi (search), making his first visit to NATO headquarters in Brussels, asked alliance leaders to move faster to help Iraq's security forces prepare for national elections due in January.

"Time is of the essence. There is a real battle in Iraq today. Delays measured in hours and days can cost lives," Allawi told NATO's governing body. "Move forward your plans as quickly as possible."

Allawi later met with EU leaders, urging countries like the Netherlands, Hungary, Portugal, Denmark and Poland to stay in Iraq alongside the United States, Britain and Italy.

"Iraq is facing a big challenge, it needs to develop its security capabilities," Allawi told reporters afterward. "A decrease of multinational forces would affect adversely the situation in Iraq, would encourage terrorism."

All but Italian, British, and US forces are the only one staying in Iraq after March 31st. Sort of sad they all want a bid on oil contracts but don't want to help stablize the country. Shows who's really just looking out for themselves in this situation.

 

[Kentucky]

The snub by Chirac at this meeting, the obvious contempt by most countries toward the US, the increasingly blatant attacks on the dollar (along with a openly-stated goal of displacing the dollar as a reserve currency for the oil market. All of this, and more, makes the EU at least as beligerant as China, maybe more so.

 

[Adam's Apple]

Wolvie: "Shows who's really just looking out for themselves in this situation."

Agreed. Hasn't that always been the case? Besides America, name one country that ever went out of its way to help another? The "Me first" attitude rules in Europe. Damn with democracy, liberty, and all those other high falutin'(?) ideas that George W. holds so dear!