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Annan expresses doubt about U.N. return to Iraq By Irwin Arieff UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Tuesday violence in Iraq will prevent the world body from re-establishing a major presence in the country anytime in the foreseeable future. Annan told reporters that even the small team now in the country, led by top U.N. official Lakhdar Brahimi, has been hampered in advising Iraqis on forming an interim government and plan for elections early next year. "Of course given the deteriorating situation and the violence on the ground, even that task has been rather difficult," Annan...

There was a tremendously important phrase in Secretary Powell's statement that is now going on. He said that Hussein's giving up and leaving the country would allow "the peaceful entry of force." This means that the troops are going into the border areas (northern and southern Iraq) now, and the bombing will begin as soon as Hussein has had no more than 12 hours to get out of dodge. But this means that the troops are going in, REGARDLESS of what Hussein does -- just that the death and destruction will be far less if Hussein capitulates.

Top Stories - Reuters Powell: Strong Chance U.S. May Get 9-10 U.N. Votes 24 minutes ago Add Top Stories - Reuters to My Yahoo! WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) said on Sunday it was unclear if the United States would win a U.N. vote that could pave the way to war with Iraq (news - web sites) but he saw a "strong chance" it may get nine or 10 votes. Latest news: · Bush Lobbies for U.N. Resolution Support AP - 1 hour, 21 minutes ago · Iraq Calls for End to...

<p>One of the most convincing arguments for U.S. action comes from the Clinton administration's Iraq expert. Kenneth M. Pollack's new book, The Threatening Storm, provides terrifying testimony. Pollack, former National Security Council director of Gulf affairs, shows how foolish it would be to allow Saddam to remain in power until he's killing Kansans as well as Kurds.</p> <p>Discussing Saddam's 1979 rise to power, Pollack writes that "like his idol Josef Stalin, Saddam Hussein quickly set about purging the party and government of any but the most devoted and non-threatening adherents.</p>

<p>ROME, Italy (CNN) --Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz said in an interview with CNN on Saturday that it would be "unacceptable" for U.N. weapons inspectors to destroy Iraqi missiles found to violate U.N. limits and dismissed the idea of sending U.N. peacekeepers to Iraq.</p>