Bush insists on attacking Iraq, no matter what

WASHINGTON, February 18 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – World resentment of a U.S.-led military action against Iraq may force President Bush to give diplomacy at least two more weeks before deciding whether to attack Iraq and may support a deadline for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to visibly destroy his alleged chemical and biological weapons, according to press reports Tuesday, February 18.

While the administration has consistently maintained that it does not need another Security Council resolution to launch an attack against Iraq, it has so far bowed to the wishes of Britain and Spain, its two main council allies. Dozens of other countries whose support the administration has claimed also have said they would prefer a U.N. imprimatur on any action, according to U.S. newspapers.

Within the same context, Washington and London are likely to push for an enforcement resolution in the Council this week. One option under consideration was a demand for "actual disarmament" by Iraq within a specified number of days, Washington Post reported.

Meeting in Brussels Monday, the 15 European Union leaders agreed that U.N. weapons inspectors should be given more time to find and destroy Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, and declared that a war against Iraq "should be used only as a last resort."

A majority of Council members, including France, Russia, China and Germany, said that inspections should be given more time before there was any consideration of the use of military force.

As the U.S. administration has tried to sustain pressure on Iraq, it often has implied during the past two months that a final deadline was near. But this time, the administration appears to have left little room for retreat from a timetable heading toward a final decision in about two weeks, according to The Post.

U.S. and British military deployments to the Gulf region will then have reached levels more than adequate for an attack by early to mid-March. Although senior military officials have said that troops could remain in the region for "months" without any action, planners have expressed concern about fighting in the intense heat that falls over the region in early spring.

In addition to a possible final deadline for Iraq, other possible provisions for a new resolution include declaring that Iraq already has violated the November council demand that it disarm immediately and completely, the Washington Post wrote.

The resolution would not spell out any consequences requiring members to agree to military action, but the administration would assert that such approval was implied. Officials said they are not interested in a scenario where a further debate about the consequences would begin after a deadline or final "material breach" had been decided.

Among the tests for Iraq that officials are considering is insistence that weapons scientists and technicians be allowed to travel outside the country for interviews with U.N. inspectors.

The administration is hesitant to lobby for a new list of procedural demands and is concerned that Iraq would use such an approach to further delay the process with attempts to negotiate.

But while all the diplomatic options have drawbacks, the administration also believes that a new resolution could greatly expand the support, including financial contributions that the United States would receive from other nations for “a post-Hussein occupation” and reconstruction of Iraq.

Officials made it clear that Bush is going to continue to work with the United Nations for several more weeks, after which he is prepared to go to war without U.N. approval if he is convinced no headway is being made.

Bush's aides insisted that he will not be slowed down by opposition that was clear in Friday's Security Council meeting, or by the millions of protesters around the world who marched against war over the weekend.

They said he is continuing to make alternative diplomatic and military plans in case the Council fails to approve a resolution endorsing an attack on Iraq, his aides said.

Bush's week of heavy diplomacy includes a meeting Wednesday, February 19, in the Oval Office with NATO Secretary General George Robertson. On Saturday, at his ranch in Crawford, Tex., he will consult with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, and the two will hold a joint news conference.

France to Veto Second Iraq Resolution

As the U.S. & UK may push for a new U.N. resolution, French President Jacques Chirac said he would be willing to veto a second UN resolution authorizing war against Saddam Hussein, reported the British Independent newspaper.

Since France has a permanent seat on the Security Council, Chirac can wield a veto in New York. He later said the case for a second resolution was "without any justification".

Chirac launched a vitriolic attack on 10 former eastern bloc nations that declared their support for the U.S. position on Iraq, telling the group, some of which are due to join the EU next year, that they had encouraged "hostility" in the 15 EU member states.

However, British Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, said further blessing from the UN was not needed. "In terms of mandate," he said, "resolution 1441 gives us the authority we need, but in terms of political desirability we have always said we would prefer a second resolution."

After four hours at the emergency EU summit, leaders agreed to a carefully balanced text describing the use of force as a "last resort" and warned President Saddam that he has a "final opportunity" to meet his UN commitments.

The text also said the UN inspectors "must be given the time and resources that the UN Security Council believes they need". And it skirted around the vexed issues of a deadline for the inspections to finish, and of whether a second UN resolution is needed before a war.

The diplomatic battleground was clear from the start of the meeting when Chirac, who has led opposition to hurrying into a war, took the initiative.

Buoyed by last week's report from the chief UN weapons inspector, Hans Blix, and by the weekend's peace protests, M. Chirac said: "War is always, always, the worst solution ... That is our position, which leads us to conclude that it is not necessary today to have a second resolution, which France could only oppose."

The comments could herald the biggest gamble of Blair's leadership. Until now the Prime Minister has said he would only back military action if it is sanctioned by the UN, or if a second resolution were withheld unreasonably. Despite the huge protest in London, however, Blair has showed no signs of backtracking.

The Prime Minister, who was firmly backed by Italy, Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands, said all 15 leaders agreed that the Iraqi leader had failed to comply with resolution 1441 and that this was his "final opportunity to disarm peacefully".