Debate heats up as US increases pressure on Iraq

Days after the United States made its case against Iraq to the United Nations security council the possibility of war in the Middle East shows no sign of abating. The information provided by the US however has done little to unite a divided world on what to do about Iraq. Coincidently, a number of discussions involving the question of war in Iraq and relations between the Middle East and Europe in general took place this week.

Debate heats up as US increases pressure on Iraq

Colin Powell, photo: CTK

On Wednesday Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, put forth evidence that in his opinion proved that Iraq was in possession of weapons of mass destruction, thus violating UN resolutions. The UN has now decided to followup on the evidence provided by the United States, their report is due on the 14th of February.

Pressure against Iraq is increasing almost by the day. Much of the world stands dived over what to do and when to do it. With the United States maintaining that it is willing to disarm Iraq without the support of the United Nations if necessary. Many countries continue to maintain that they would not support a war in Iraq without a UN mandate, including the Czech Republic, while some countries, notably Germany have stated that they will not participate in a possible war, with or without a UN mandate.

On Tuesday a discussion took place at Charles University entitled 'Iraq on the door-step of War'. Political Scientist Petr Pospichal maintains that a possible war in Iraq would be bad for everyone this he says is reflected in oil and share prices, and the continued instability of the market.

Iraqi soldier, photo: CTK

There has also been a fear that a possible war in Iraq would spread to other regions of the Middle East, notably Israel and Saudi Arabia. I put this question to Eva Filipova who is the director of the Near-East department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

"First of all, a war, at this point, is not a sure thing. Secondly, the possibility of the war spreading to other states in the region is highly unlikely."

Another discussion took place on Wednesday at the Institute for International Relations in Prague entitled 'Communication between Europe and the Middle East' where a number of specialists in the Middle East discussed relations between the two continents. One of these specialists is Lubos Kropacek, who is deputy head of the department of near East and African studies at Charles University. I asked him if the Czech Republic's stance on the Iraqi question could hurt this country's image in the Middle East, here's what he thinks:

"The newspapers and other media have published that the opinion polls, that the great majority, over 60 percent are against the war with Iraq. The role to be played by the Czech chemists, in case of conflict, is to be considered humanitarian. Of course, they will stand clearly on one side of the conflicting parties but their role in case of an attack by chemical weapons, it is in case of, it is something which is not necessary, which is not inevitable defiantly, and the war is not inevitable. So their role, the role of the Czech chemists, would be humanitarian, to help those who would be effected by either chemical or biological weapons."