Pressure mounting on Iraq has nonetheless led to a change in attitude. After bravado, the country finally accepts the return of UN inspectors to its territory. Iraq’s letter to Kofi Annan eases the international community.
Leading these inspections are Swedish Hans Blix (UN) and Egyptian Mohamed El Baradei (IAEA). After two months, they submit their first report: they found nothing. The White House reacts: the problem with hidden weapons is that their smoke is not visible. Louis Michel maintains his position: he sees no evidence, but “the expression of sustained presumption.”
Facing France, Germany, and Belgium, UK’s Tony Blair rallies American support on the continent. Europe is deeply divided, and its hesitations alarm a good part of America, still traumatized by 9/11.
Donald Rumsfeld, US Secretary of Defense, stigmatizes Germany and France as the “old Europe.”
Over 20 years later, Louis Michel recalls his role as Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs in 2003 and remembers the enormous pressures: “pressure really painful” exerted by the United States, making you feel how small and insignificant you are. He explains being a victim of thinly veiled threats from the US ambassador at the time, hinting that NATO headquarters could be easily relocated, for example. Continuous pressures and a war of attrition that nearly caused the Germans to give in, according to Louis Michel.
