France, Germany Behave As Expected

Thu, Sep 4, 2003 at 7:25:59 am PDT

As if we couldn’t see this one coming: France, Germany Criticize Iraq Resolution.

Schroeder and Chirac, both adamant opponents of the war in Iraq, said they wanted to see a greater role for the United Nations in guiding the country's reconstruction. Such a role was not included in the draft U.N. resolution circulated by the United States on Wednesday.

"We are naturally ready to study it in the most positive manner," Chirac said. "But we are quite far removed from what we believe is the priority objective, which is the transfer of political responsibility to an Iraqi government as quickly as possible."

Schroeder said the draft resolution had brought "movement" into the diplomacy. But he added: "I agree with the president when he says: Not dynamic enough, not sufficient."