Yep, it does seem strange when the NY Times does anything right. Oh well, I'm Deep in the Heart of Texas and its 26 degrees right now, so...
Posted on 02/25/2003 9:47:14 AM PST by finnman69
Any lingering confusion about the fault line in the United Nations Security Council was erased yesterday by new American and French initiatives on Iraq. The United States wants a new resolution reaffirming the conclusion that Iraq has failed to disarm, effectively opening the way to a war sanctioned by the U.N. France, supported by Germany and Russia, prefers to give Hans Blix and his inspectors more time to see if they can disarm Iraq. The American resolution, introduced by Britain, deserves the Security Council's support.
A Council visibly moving toward authorizing force is the last remote hope of getting Iraq to disarm peacefully. Saddam Hussein reinforced that point himself yesterday by telling Dan Rather of CBS News that Iraqi missiles do not violate U.N. restrictions. That suggests he does not plan to carry out Mr. Blix's order to destroy missiles that exceed performance limits set by the U.N.
Winning majority support for this resolution and avoiding a veto will take deft diplomacy. Among the Security Council's 15 members, only the United States, Britain, Spain and Bulgaria have so far indicated their support. Wisely, Washington and London have decided not to push for a quick decision. Instead they are aiming for a vote by the second week in March. That will give hesitant Council members a further chance to gauge Iraqi conduct on core issues, starting with Baghdad's response to Mr. Blix's unambiguous instruction to begin destroying its illegal missiles by the end of this week.
The Security Council's previous resolution, last fall, opened two possible paths to disarming Iraq. One was peaceful, the other military. Regrettably, Iraq has let three crucial months go by without grasping what is clearly its last chance for peaceful disarmament. Instead of showing the inspectors its illegal weapons material and projects and cooperating in their destruction, as required, Baghdad has offered no meaningful cooperation.
It seems inconceivable that without the pressure of this latest resolution, Iraq will reverse itself and disarm. Yet that is the underlying assumption of the latest proposal by France, Russia and Germany. In the face of Baghdad's stonewalling, the Council needs to reunite and stand behind its firm warnings of last fall. What's needed is not more time but an entirely different attitude from Iraq.
LOL!!!
Or maybe they learned that Saddam has an all-male golf club. That would REALLY get them worked up!
My parents (in their 70's, both retired government workers) subscribe to the New York Times here in Arizona. My mom feels compelled to regularly clip leftist propaganda from the NYT and hand it to me ("Here!!! You need to read this!!") I just play along and pretend that I'll read that trash--LOL.
Yep, it does seem strange when the NY Times does anything right. Oh well, I'm Deep in the Heart of Texas and its 26 degrees right now, so...
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