Posted on 09/28/2002 6:22:22 AM PDT by GeneD
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Details emerged on Friday of a tough U.S.-drafted Security Council resolution that would give Iraq less than six weeks to disclose any weapons of mass destruction and hold the threat of military action over its head.
President Bush, facing resistance in Europe and at home to his avowed policy of forcing Iraqi President Saddam Hussein from power, repeated his willingness to act without U.N. approval if necessary.
"Our last choice is to commit our troops to harm's way, but if we have to, to defend our freedoms, if we have to, the United States will lead a coalition and do so," Bush said at a rally for Republican candidates in Arizona.
At the United Nations, diplomats said the U.S.-drafted resolution would give Saddam seven days to accept a list of demands -- ranging from disclosing weapons of mass destruction to opening all sites to inspection.
Iraq then would have 30 days to make a full declaration of whatever nuclear, chemical, biological or ballistic arms programs it may still have, the diplomats quoted the draft as saying.
The document, distributed among the other four veto-bearing permanent members of the 15-nation council -- France, Britain, Russia and China -- is not expected to be circulated officially until Monday and will be subject to revisions. Should Baghdad balk, the resolution warns that "all necessary means" -- a diplomatic term for military action -- could be used to ensure compliance.
The resolution would give U.N. arms inspectors new instructions, overriding all previous U.N. resolutions on disarmament, including a 1998 agreement setting special conditions for Saddam's palace compounds.
U.N. inspectors, deployed after the 1991 Gulf War that drove Iraqi invaders out of Kuwait, withdrew from Iraq in 1998 following repeated disputes with Baghdad over access to suspected arms sites.
CHENEY MAKES IRAQ-AL QAEDA LINK
Washington has tried to strengthen its case against Saddam by accusing him of collaborating with al Qaeda, the group blamed for the Sept. 11 attacks on America last year, and Vice President Dick Cheney repeated the accusations on Friday.
"There's also evidence that there is some relationship with the al Qaeda organization and some evidence of exchanges back and forth between the al Qaeda organization -- Osama bin laden -- on one hand and the Iraqi intelligence services," Cheney told a university fund-raising event in Laramie, Wyoming.
"Over time we can be absolutely certain that sooner or later (Saddam) will acquire nuclear weapons and unfortunately he will try to use them," Cheney said.
But Bush's bid for a congressional resolution authorizing military force against Iraq met new Democratic opposition, this time from influential Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts.
He said Bush has not made a convincing case that Iraq was such an imminent threat that a pre-emptive strike was needed.
A top U.S. diplomat, encountering deep skepticism over proposed military strikes on Baghdad, is due to fly to Moscow from Paris on Saturday as part of a drive to secure backing for the U.S.-drafted resolution.
Marc Grossman, U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs, faces resistance from Russian leaders who have said Iraq's agreement to allow U.N. arms inspectors back into the country is sufficient to avoid any use of force.
In Paris, Grossman appeared to make little headway in his bid to win support for the resolution.
A spokeswoman for President Jacques Chirac said France remained committed to a plan for two resolutions -- one on readmitting inspectors and a second providing for tough measures only if they encountered difficulty.
Both President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov say there is no need for new U.N. Security Council resolutions and that all efforts must be made to ensure the inspectors can quickly resume their checks for weapons of mass destruction.
In the latest of 32 strikes in Iraq's southern no-fly zone this year, U.S. and British jets bombed two Iraqi surface-to-air missile sites south of the capital, Baghdad, after Iraqi forces fired on Western aircraft, a Pentagon spokesman said on Friday.
Baghdad said the warplanes had attacked civilian targets in the south of the country.
Three U.S. congressmen arrived in Baghdad to plead for unfettered access to U.N. arms inspectors and Saddam's eldest son, Uday, accused Washington of behaving like an "arrogant cowboy" eying Iraqi oil reserves.
Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, speaking after meeting French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin in Paris, said Beijing wanted Baghdad to comply with U.N. disarmament resolutions but "at the same time, we have to respect Iraq's sovereignty and territorial integrity."
"If the weapons inspections do not take place, if we do not have clear proof and if we do not have the authorization of the Security Council, we cannot launch a military attack on Iraq -- otherwise, there would be incalculable consequences."
When, my Friend, were they relevant? They seem to cause more problems than they fix. They intervene in other nations affairs,finish fubaring the situation, then run like hades for cover. Then they ALL(UN) blame the usual suspect as a whipping post for the problem... the USA
Good Riddance....Amen. But alas I fear that like the seven year itch......It will return ie...League of Nations. I remember writing a paper in college "cheese" about the Defunct League of Nations and the Problems it has caused since it became The UN. Took a hell of beating by the staunce liberals but, Their counter arguments were and never have been substanciated. Got an A btw
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