Global Policy Forum

In the diplomatic tug-of-war over the Iraq crisis, the "old Europe" team of France and Germany found itself having regained the initiative over the United States, after floating an alternative proposal for disarming Baghdad.

But the development Monday, which came out at the Munich security conference this weekend, also widened the yawning gulf between the two camps and threatened to further block already barely-functioning communication channels.

William Cohen, former US defense secretary, said Sunday that the conference -- attended by defense secretaries of all three countries -- exposed that there was "a lack of communication at the very highest levels."

Indeed US officials were furious that US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had to learn of the Franco-German scheme through the press and when he asked his German counterpart about it was told "we're not ready to talk to you about it".

"That's not the way to have a winning hand with the United States," a senior US official fumed as he left Munich.

Ironically, the situation was nearly a mirror of the one a month ago, when eight European leaders signed a letter supporting the US position on Iraq, without consulting France and Germany.

The United States has pushed for military action to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction -- which Baghdad denies having. France and Germany have opposed the policy, calling for UN weapons inspectors in the country to be given more time.

The crisis has strained the United States' relations with France and Germany to such a point that Rumsfeld last month said the two countries represented "old Europe."

The United States and Britain, its closest ally on the issue, gained diplomatic momentum when 10 eastern and central European countries said they backed US efforts to disarm Iraq.

And then came the report of the Franco-German alternative.

Officials details of the proposals were unclear on Sunday. Germany referred to them as a joint initiative, while France said they were proposals made to the United Nations on February 5 by French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin.

But the initiative received an important boost Sunday when Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow was "almost completely in agreement" with it.

The development has set the scene for lively diplomatic activity leading up to Friday, when UN disarmament chiefs are to present their crucial second progress report on the Iraq weapons inspections. Germany has said it hopes to present the proposals to the Security Council on the same day, which would set the stage for an acriminious showdown between the five permanent Security Council members: the United States and Britain on one side, and China, France and Russia on the other.

On Sunday, US officials went on the counter-offensive, with US National security advisor Condoleezza Rice Sunday saying: "I think that the French and the Germans are increasingly isolated."

"It's the wrong issue," said US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who also learned of the proposal from press reports. "The issue is compliance on the part of Saddam Hussein. This idea of more inspectors, or a no-fly zone, or whatever else may be in this proposal that is being developed, is a diversion not a solution," he said in a television interview.

At one point in the interview, Powell, perceived as the most pro-European member of President George W. Bush's cabinet, made what appeared to be a derisive anti-French remark about France's insistance that the number of UN weapons inspectors be multiplied.

"The issue is ... not for inspectors to play detectives or Inspector Clouseaus running all over Iraq looking for this material," Powell said, referring to the bumbling French Surete officer portrayed on screen by Peter Sellers.

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