Schroeder says not convinced of preemptive war doctrine

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said in an interview with the BBC broadcast on Friday that he had never been convinced of the usefulness of the doctrine of preemptive war.

"I have always spoken my mind quite clearly and I have no reason to change my position on this now," said Schroeder, who visited London on Thursday for talks with British Prime Minister Tony Blair on European issues as well as bilateral and international issues.

Schroeder, who firmly opposed the US-led war against Iraq, toldthe BBC that the US and British intelligence failure about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction (WMD) has showed the problem with the pre-emptive doctrine.

Schroeder's comments came after a British independent probe ruled that some sources of the British intelligence on Iraq's WMD were "seriously flawed" following Blair's admission that Iraq's WMD may never be found in the country.

Some official reports from the United States also found that USprewar intelligence about Iraq's chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs, a major justification for the US invasion of Iraq, was incomplete and unreliable.

In his interview with the BBC, Schroeder also said that both sides across the Atlantic ocean had learned lesson about their serious dispute over the US-led war against Iraq.

"In international crises, one needs to talk, especially in the run-up, more than we may have done in this particular case, so as to avoid a situation that we had in the United Nations, where one ends up in such a crisis," Schroeder said.

"It would be better for all of us to avoid such a situation. Itis the task of politicians in Europe and the US to see to it that in future such situations do not arise," Schroeder added.

Source: Xinhua