The Hindu : Iraq: Disarmament must take place soon: Bush

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Sunday, Feb 02, 2003

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Iraq: Disarmament must take place soon: Bush

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

Washington feb. 1. The U.S. President, George W. Bush, has said that he would welcome a second United Nations resolution on Iraq but has warned the international community that this is directly linked to prompt disarmament and that any attempt to drag the process out for months will be `resisted' by the U.S. "This is a matter of weeks not months. Any attempt to delay the process for months would be resisted by the United States,'' Mr. Bush remarked at the White House after meeting the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, his staunchest ally in this ongoing crisis in the Persian Gulf.

"Saddam Hussein is not disarming. He is a danger to the world,'' Mr. Bush said. The fact that Mr. Bush is willing to go for a second resolution though he and his administration strongly believe that this is unnecessary given the context and substance of resolution 1441 is intended to give additional political leverage and cover to Mr. Blair who is under strong pressure domestically and in Europe for his unflinching support to Washington.

"This issue will come to a head in a matter of weeks, not months,'' Mr. Bush declared. The Bush-Blair meeting or "war council'' was first set at Camp David but due bad weather there the venue was shifted to the Oval Office and in the private quarters of the President.

Mr. Blair left for London after an early dinner with Mr. Bush. The focus right now in Washington, New York and elsewhere is undoubtedly on February 5 when the Secretary of State, Colin Powell, is due to give the U.N. additional information and intelligence on Iraqi weapons and programmes of mass destruction.

Further, Gen. Powell is expected to show some evidence as well on the links between Baghdad and terror outfits like the Al-Qaeda.

But many permanent and non-permanent members are quite wary of the new information that is going to be presented, the argument being that if the Bush administration really wanted to impress the Council, it would have done so by bringing the `evidence' much earlier and in a closed door session.

From the U.S. point of view, February 5 is just the start of some critical decision making time at the U.N. for after the presentation of Gen. Powell, the jockeying will begin in the Council.

With Britain just making it plain that it is keen on a second resolution specifically authorising the use of force and the U.S. agreeable to the idea, the two will have to convince the other members — permanent and non-permanent — to go along. The sentiments earlier this week were that 11 out of 15 members in the Council were in favour of giving weapons inspectors "more time''.

For a resolution to pass the Council, it requires nine votes with no vetos. The thinking is that when the push comes to shove, 13 members will vote for the second resolution with Germany and Syria standing out.

In that event, the resolution will pass as these two are non-permanent members. "This needs to be resolved quickly. Should the United Nations decide to pass a second resolution, it would be welcomed if it is another signal that we are intent on disarming Saddam Hussein. Saddam must understand, if he does not disarm for the sake of peace, we along with other will go along and disarm Saddam Hussein,'' said Mr. Bush.

What no one in the administration has defined is the word `quickly' — the interpretation in the media for the start of military action against Iraq ranges from two to six weeks after February 5.

Meanwhile, at the U.N. the top weapons inspectors have indicated that they would reject an invitation from Iraq to visit the country on February 10 unless Baghdad accepted a series of conditions that showed its commitment to disarm.

According to Hans Blix of the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission and Mohammad ElBaradei of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Baghdad must come to terms with private interview of scientists and for U-2 surveillance flights. The Bush administration has said that the Iraqi invitation is yet another gimmick to distract world attention.'' We certainly don't see anything new in this invitation,'' remarked the top American envoy to the U.N., John Negroponte.

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