The Hindu : U.S. finds the going tough

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 09, 2003

International

International

U.S. finds the going tough

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

Washington FEB. 8. Even as the United States is stepping up intense diplomatic pressure on nations represented in the United Nations Security Council, the Bush administration is finding that the going is really tough whether it is in world capitals or New York.

Arguing that resolution 1441 must be upheld "in the fullest'', the U.S. President, George W. Bush, said that the Security Council has to make its decision soon.

"The Security Council has to make up its mind soon, as to whether or not its words mean

anything'', Mr. Bush told reporters on Friday.

"This is a defining moment for the U.N. Security Council. If a Security Council were to allow a dictator to lie and deceive, the Security Council will be weakened'', he added.

Mr. Bush spoke to the President of China, Jiang Zemin, and the President of France, Jacques Chirac. Both leaders are said to have reiterated of the need for the U.N. inspections process in Iraq to continue.

France and China, along with Russia, are pushing this route with only Britain among the permanent membership of the Council siding with the U.S. on another resolution authorising use of force.

French officials have been quoted in the media here as saying that Mr. Bush and Mr. Chirac did indeed have an "excellent'' conversation; and that Mr. Chirac took the opportunity to fully explain where Paris was coming from in this crisis.

The bottom line to France is that it is not opposed to the use of force, but this should come only after unmistakable signs that the inspections process is not going to work.

France, along with Russia and China, are for giving the political process some more time. China is pointing out that weapons inspectors in Iraq had made "some progress''.

Meanwhile, at the United Nations, while no formal draft resolution is doing the rounds, Britain and the U.S. are said to be working on a document. At the White House, the spokesman, Ari Fleischer, said the process of reaching an agreement on a specific language is "just beginning''.

Diplomats here and at the world body are making the point that the kind of impression the top weapons inspectors, Hans Blix and Mohammad ElBaradei, come away with from Baghdad this weekend will be critical in setting the stage.

If Dr. Blix comes back on February 14 and reports of a positive change in the attitude of Baghdad, then the position of France, China and Russia will get strengthened.

But if the top U.N. weapons inspector tells the Security Council that he still cannot find substantive change in the attitude of the Government in Iraq, it will be a clear victory for the U.S. as it presses for the second resolution.

Resolution 1441 was passed by the Security Council last November with all 15 members voting in favour of it.

But the White House is saying that this is not the standard that has been set.

When push comes to shove, Washington will be happy to get only the required nine votes with Russia, China and France abstaining and not casting their veto.

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