France says troops alone won't solve Iraq's woes
Source: Reuters
PARIS, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Iraq needs a political solution more than it needs an increase in the number of foreign troops, France's foreign minister said in his country's latest swipe at U.S. policy in the Middle East. U.S. President George W. Bush has pledged to send an extra 21,500 troops to Iraq as part of a new strategy aimed at quelling sectarian violence. "The problem is not so much the level of forces engaged as the basic premise upon which this 'new plan' is still based: the conviction that there is a way out of the military crisis in Iraq," Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said in an opinion column published in French daily Le Monde on Tuesday. "The answer can only be political. The insurrection's resonance would only be boosted by the intensification of military operations," he said, reiterating his call for a date to be set for the withdrawal of U.S. troops. France led international opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, criticism President Jacques Chirac renewed this month when he referred to the intervention as an adventure that had undermined stability in the entire region. Douste-Blazy said sectarian violence would only end through dialogue and giving communities an equitable share of power and resources. Negotiation was also key to resolving the Middle East's big crises, such as Iran's nuclear programme, the search for peace between Israelis and Palestinians and the "volatile" situation in Lebanon, Douste-Blazy said. (Additional reporting by Brian Rohan)
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