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Diplomat: U.S. ‘threatened’
countries that didn’t support Iraq war.
Think
Progress
Monday, March 24, 2008
In an upcoming book, Heraldo Muñoz, Chile’s ambassador
to the United Nations, writes the efforts by the Bush administration
to cajole other countries into supporting the invasion of Iraq “generated
lasting ‘bitterness’ and ‘deep mistrust’
in Washington’s relations with allies in Europe, Latin America
and elsewhere.” Muñoz describes how the “rough-and-tumble
diplomatic strategy” employed by the Bush administration to
pressure allies for support included threats and punishment:
In the months leading up to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, the
Bush administration threatened trade reprisals against friendly
countries who withheld their support, spied on its allies, and
pressed for the recall of U.N. envoys that resisted U.S. pressure
to endorse the war, according to an upcoming book by a top Chilean
diplomat. […]
“In the aftermath of the invasion, allies loyal to the
United States were rejected, mocked and even punished” for
their refusal to back a U.N. resolution authorizing military action
against Saddam Hussein’s government, Muñoz wrote.
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