** bu$hs porch monkey **

U.K. Foreign Minister Denies Rift With Diplomats on Iraq
April 27 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. Foreign Office minister Mike O'Brien denied there
was a rift between the British government and its diplomats over Iraq and the

The diplomats, including former ambassadors to Baghdad and Tel Aviv, described
U.S. policies in Iraq and Israel as ``doomed to failure'' and called on Blair to
use his influence to change them or to withdraw his support.

O'Brien said in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corp. in London that
the position set out in the diplomats' letter was no different from that of the
British government.

``They seem to be advocating a policy which we should be following on the Middle
East but we are following it,'' he said. ``And then they criticize us for
following it.''

The diplomats told Blair they had ``watched with deepening concern'' as the U.K.
followed the U.S.'s Middle East policies and called for a debate in Parliament.

``Almost all of us that signed that letter have the impression that the regional
expertise in the Foreign Office wasn't as fully used as it could have been
during the formulation of policy toward Iraq,'' said Marrack Goulding, former
head of the United Nations Peacekeeping operation, when asked in a BBC interview
whether serving diplomats shared the views in the letter.

The letter called for greater UN involvement in Iraq, criticized the use of
``heavy weapons unsuited to the task in hand,'' ``inflammatory language'' and
the lack of an ``effective plan for the post-Saddam settlement.''

O'Brien said the government also supported greater UN involvement in Iraq.

The letter said Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's offer to withdraw settlers
from the Gaza strip while leaving some in the West Bank was ``one-sided and
illegal'' and would ``cost yet more Israeli and Palestinian blood.''

O'Brien denied there had been a change of British policy on the
Israeli-Palestinian issue. ``Our policy since 1967 has been to support a
two-state solution,'' he said. ``That is still our policy.''


--
"The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our
number one priority and we will not rest until we find him."
~ George Bush Jr. 2001-09-13

"I don't know where he (bin Laden) is. I have no idea and I really don't care.
It's not that important. It's not our priority."
~ George Bush Jr. 2002-03-13