Posted on 03/05/2003 9:24:14 AM PST by prairiebreeze
WASHINGTON - With no assurance of the outcome, Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) will go to the United Nations (news - web sites) on Friday to try to cajole dubious nations on the Security Council to back using force to disarm Iraq (news - web sites).
Powell will join with other foreign ministers and ambassadors in hearing the latest report from chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix and to lobby for the resolution submitted by the United States, Britain and Spain.
It will be Powell's fourth visit to the United Nations in less than two months in an attempt to convince the council that Iraq has violated resolutions for more than 12 years and should be forced to disarm if other methods fail.
Powell was delivering an address in Washington on Wednesday that administration officials said would underscore the U.S. argument that Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) is deceiving the world and must be disarmed soon, with or without U.N. approval. He also was to outline U.S. plans for Iraq after Saddam is removed, officials said.
The administration has said that it is time for the 15 nations on the U.N. Security Council to "stand up and be counted" on using force to disarm Saddam.
But in Paris Wednesday, the foreign ministers of France, Germany and Russia said at an emergency meeting that they will "not allow" passage of a U.N. resolution to authorize war.
And on Capitol Hill, Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., criticized the Bush administration's approach to other nations, saying "this crowd speaks harshly" and that deters potential partners in war with Irqq.
At the White House, spokesman Ari Fleischer (news - web sites) said, "Don't leap to conclusions about the final vote. You will continue to hear various statements by various people around the world."
"What you are observing is a fluid situation as different nations make different statements that all lead up to the one day which is the most important day, which is the day of the vote," Fleischer said.
As President Bush (news - web sites) and senior American diplomats labored to round up votes at the United Nations and in world capitals, Powell said Tuesday that "nobody really knows who has the votes until the votes are taken."
But, Powell said on CNBC he was encouraged by some of the conversations he had and said that finding nine positive votes — the minimum required for passage — and no vetoes from the permanent members of the council — "is not an insurmountable task."
Bush also met with congressional leaders over breakfast Wednesday. They left the White House without talking to reporters.
The commander who would lead the war, Gen. Tommy Franks, brought battle plans to the White House for a meeting with Bush and his national security team Wednesday morning.
Meantime, government officials speaking on condition of anonymity said that a "shock and awe" strategy for war with Iraq includes plans to drop 10 times the bombs in the opening days than were unleashed in the first days of the Persian Gulf War (news - web sites) in 1991.
Powell told RTL television of Germany that "the United States feels it is appropriate to move forward with a vote in the absence of compliance on the part of Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi regime."
Bush talked by telephone to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee of India and President Hosni Mubarak (news - web sites) of Egypt while Powell directed his telephone diplomacy toward Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez of Mexico and also talked to two supporters, Foreign Minister Ana Palacio of Spain and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw of Britain.
Powell's spokesman, Richard Boucher, said meanwhile, that "we have emphasized the importance for members of the Security Council to stand up and be counted" and to reaffirm the resolution adopted last November that warned Iraq of serious consequences if it did not disarm.
The Army's oldest armored division, "Old Ironsides," got orders to head for the Persian Gulf as the total of U.S. land, sea and air forces arrayed against Iraq or preparing to deploy neared 300,000.
American war planners still hope the Turkish parliament will reverse itself and permit the deployment of 62,000 U.S. troops to pave the way for an invasion of Iraq from the north.
The payoff for Turkey would be a say in northern Iraq, a stronghold of the Kurds, and a $15 billion aid package from the United States.
Still, Powell said if the parliament remained opposed "we have alternative plans that will allow us to conduct any military operations that the president might order.
"We'll still be able to accomplish our mission," he declared.
While U.S. officials are not attempting a head count, a majority of the Security Council appears to prefer extending U.N. weapons inspections.
The White House and Powell left open the possibility that the administration would not seek a U.N. vote if the measure appeared to be doomed.
"The vote is desirable. It is not necessary," Fleischer said.
And Powell said that after weapons inspectors Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei report on Friday he would consult with other nations over the weekend.
"And then early next week we'll make a judgment on what we have heard and whether it's time to put the resolution up to a vote."
One option under serious consideration was Bush giving Saddam a final ultimatum, perhaps with a short-term deadline, in an address next week, two senior White House officials said.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, stressed that a variety of options were under consideration and that they depended on the outcome of the debate in the council.
Among them is Bush's oft-stated option of using force to disarm Iraq with a "coalition of the willing" alongside the United States if the council does not adopt the U.S-British-Spanish resolution.
Prairie
That's not true, and it's a dumb-ass way to go into this vote. It's pretty simple. You get 9 signatures on the resolution or you don't bother with a formal vote. If they won't sign it, they won't support it.
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