CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: That diplomatic crisis among NATO allies over Iraq is our big story this morning. This stalemate involves the decision by France, Germany and Belgium to veto efforts to begin planning to defend fellow ally, Turkey, in the event of a war with Iraq. President Bush says he is disappointed by the veto. An emergency meeting at NATO headquarters on this complicated matter has been delayed until later this morning. And we want to take you to the heart of this controversy. Our Matthew Chance joins us live now from NATO headquarters in Brussels. And, Matthew, this meeting was supposed to go on today. It's been postponed. It's hard not to think that this means something dire.</s>MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly it's not a good thing in terms of the diplomacy here. This dispute really does go to the heart of the NATO alliance. It's meant to be there as an organization that steps in when one of its members feels threatened or comes under attack. That has happened. Turkey has said that it feels threatened. It's called for NATO hardware and troops to be deployed on its territory ahead of any possible war in Iraq. At the moment, as we've been reporting, France, Germany, Belgium are blocking, are vetoing NATO's action in that regard. The French leading those European objectors, saying that they don't believe now is the right time to deploy NATO forces to Turkey, because they say it would send a message that a decision to go to war has already been taken. The French government wanting to allow more time for a peaceful resolution at the hands of the U.N. to be given a chance -- Carol.</s>COSTELLO: Matthew Chance reporting live from Brussels, Belgium this morning. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
NATO Meeting Delayed Until Later This Morning