Posted on 03/14/2003 4:01:00 AM PST by JohnHuang2
The United States is moving 10 Navy ships armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles from the eastern Mediterranean to the Red Sea, senior U.S. officials said Thursday. The move indicates weakening U.S. confidence that Turkey will grant overflight rights for U.S. planes and missiles.
From the Red Sea the cruisers, destroyers and submarines would be able to launch their Tomahawks - typically fired in the opening hours of a war — for flights over Saudi Arabia to targets in Iraq.
The ships are part of the USS Harry S. Truman and USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier battle groups, which have been operating in the eastern Mediterranean for weeks in anticipation of war against Iraq.
It had been hoped that the Tomahawks could fly across Turkey's airspace, but the Turkish government so far has not granted overflight rights.
As U.S. confidence in having Turkey as a military ally weakens, so does the push for White House diplomatic demands at the United Nations.
Just one week ago, President Bush could not have been more adamant about getting the U.N. Security Council to vote on the Iraq resolution he wants. But with the United States short of the nine votes needed to win the vote, and with France and Russia threatening vetoes, Mr. Bush may now forego a vote, reports CBS News Correspondent Mark Knoller.
Mr. Bush and his advisers debated Thursday whether to press forward with the vote or withdraw the measure and pivot quickly to war footing. Aides said the president has pushed for a U.N. vote thus far out of respect for British Prime Minister Tony Blair, whose support of the war effort has drawn severe criticism in Britain.
"We are still talking to members of the council to see what is possible," Secretary of State Colin Powell said. The options under consideration include "to go for a vote and not to go for a vote," he added.
Interviews with several top administration officials suggested a growing number of advisers believe the resolution is doomed and they tend to want the president to cut his losses and withdraw it. Others still hold out hope for the measure.
Powell, testifying on Capitol Hill, cited several allies that stand ready to back the United States even if the U.N. won't, including Britain, Australia, Bulgaria, Italy, Spain, Japan and eight eastern European countries.
Mr. Bush said last week he wanted U.N. members to "show their cards" even if that meant the measure failed.
The president spent a fourth straight day on the telephone, consulting leaders of Britain, Bulgaria, South Korea and other nations about potential compromise.
Mr. Bush had long been scheduled to attend a St. Patrick's Day celebration at Capitol Hill, but the trip was canceled at the last minute so he could work the phones. The White House also scuttled early planning for a potential European summit between the U.S. and Britain.
But trouble loomed at every diplomatic turn.
France and Germany rejected a British compromise proposal that listed six disarmament conditions for Iraq. French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said the proposals "do not respond to the questions the international community is asking." Germany said the proposal still "basically gives an authorization for war."
Britain and the United States lashed out at France for its rejection. "France ... looked at the British proposal, and they rejected it before Iraq rejected it," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said.
In London, Iain Duncan Smith, leader of the opposition Conservative Party, emerged from a meeting with Blair to say the prime minister believed war was more likely because "the French have become completely intransigent."
Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, visiting Mr. Bush at the White House, said, "If there is not a resolution, Ireland cannot engage in support of military action, because we work under the U.N. resolution."
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan raised the possibility of a summit of world leaders "to get us out of this crisis."
Vice President Dick Cheney spoke by telephone with incoming Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan, even as Turkey signaled that it wanted a U.N. resolution before allowing U.S. troops to invade Iraq from its borders.
The chief U.N. nuclear inspector urged the Security Council to compromise on proposed disarmament conditions for Iraq, with staggered deadlines and no ultimatum for war.
"I think there's a keen desire globally to do everything before resorting to war," Mohamed ElBaradei told The Associated Press.
Saddam Hussein's government exulted in the diplomatic tumult over a U.S.-British backed resolution that would demand that Iraq disarm by Monday. "I don't think the United States will succeed," said Iraq Foreign Minister Naji Sabri.
Six uncommitted nations, meanwhile, tried Thursday to bridge the deep divide over Iraq at the U.N. with proposals that do not include triggers for war.
Just a day before, White House officials claimed that some of the swing nations on the Security Council – Angola, Cameroon, Chile, Guinea, Mexico and Pakistan – were supporting the U.S.-backed resolution authorizing military action against Iraq.
"We are not negotiating the British draft," said Chile's U.N. Ambassador Gabriel Valdes. "We are putting out other ideas. We are going to announce now what we believe."
The ideas include a list of "doable" tasks for Saddam to complete in a what its proponents said was a realistic timeframe to prove Iraq's commitment to disarmament. At the end of that period the council would meet to determine whether Iraq had complied or not, council diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity. There would be no automatic trigger for war.
In other developments:
A U.N. weapons inspector was killed and another injured in a traffic accident south of Baghdad, the U.N. said. Their car crashed head-on into a truck on a highway after they inspected a tomato canning factory, 30 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq said.
Iraq braced for war, lining the streets of Baghdad with fighting positions and foxholes, while the Pentagon moved B-2 Stealth bombers from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri to bases close to Iraq.
Iraq destroyed three more Al Samoud 2 missiles Thursday, as well as seven of the missiles' warheads, 22 unassembled tail sections and other missile materials, according to inspectors' spokesman Hiro Ueki.
Don't they mean the Black Sea instead? The Red Sea is between Egypt and Saudi Arabia and is nowhere near Turkey. Plus, ships would have to go through the Suez Canal to get there, which is controlled by Egypt. Cruise missles fired from the Black Sea would fly over Turkey, but not cruise missiles from the Red Sea.
This is about the 4th article on FR I've read that makes this assertion, yet no one has questioned the geography.
You're correct -- mea culpa. I was remembering a story from last night which really did state the geography wrongly. I'll remember that FR should not be the first place to go when I roll out of bed.
Hmmmmm, tomato canning factory... Is that next to the baby milk factory?
Chinese U.N. inspector dies in car crash
Copyright © 2003 Nando Media
Copyright © 2003 AP Online
The Associated Press
BEIJING (March 14, 2:21 a.m. AST) - A Chinese chemist working as a U.N. weapons inspector in Iraq was killed in a car accident in Baghdad, China's Foreign Ministry said Friday.Yu Jianxing, 38, was a passenger in a car that struck the back of a truck and crashed into a pond on Thursday, the ministry said.
His Iraqi driver was slightly injured, the ministry said. It was not immediately clear how many people were in the car. The men were taken to a military hospital in Baghdad, where Yu died within a half hour, the ministry said.
I don't know if it s next door to a baby milk factory, but it did remind me of an article some time back. I forget which chemical agent it was, but didn't one of them require an acidic base??? And it was thought that the best method of transferal was to 'can' it???
All the Arab states are with us in reality, but not for the media
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