U.S. turns to U.N. to pass resolution
URL: usatoday.com.
By Bill Nichols, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — As Congress moved to give President Bush the authority to use force against Iraq, the administration began to turn its full attention toward passing a tough new measure at the United Nations.
President Bush welcomes the House's vote Thursday that authorizes him to attack Baghdad.
By Paul J. Richards, AFP
U.S. officials said they hope the passage of war resolutions by the House and Senate will supply momentum to break a diplomatic logjam in the United Nations. The House of Representatives approved a resolution Thursday, and the Senate was expected to vote by early this morning.
At the United Nations, U.S. diplomats are pressing for a resolution that would threaten the automatic use of military force if Iraq does not give complete access to arms inspectors within 30 days.
But of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, all with veto power, only the United States and Britain back that plan. France, Russia and China oppose it.
"The president hopes that (the congressional votes) will send a strong message to the world," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said. He said Bush maintains, as he stated Sept. 12 in his U.N. speech on Iraq, that arms inspection rules must be enacted within "days, weeks, not months."
Diplomats in New York, however, report little progress on defusing opposition to the U.S.-backed plan.
The Bush administration has threatened to go it alone if the United Nations fails to back a tough stance toward Iraq. Polls show a sharp drop in U.S. public support for war if the United States does not act with its allies. That raises the stakes for getting an agreement at the United Nations.
A speedy end to the diplomatic impasse is important to the United States because any attack on Iraq would be most effective during the cool winter months. Once spring and summer arrive in Baghdad, intense heat will make it tough for U.S. troops to fight effectively in cumbersome suits that shield them from chemical and biological weapons.
Thursday, 130 U.N. members who aren't on the Security Council but oppose the use of force in Iraq pressed for an open meeting in which they can express their views. U.S. officials said that debate probably will take place next week. Though only Security Council members vote on resolutions, a free debate could fuel opposition to the U.S. position.
The major points of contention: France, Russia and China say any use of force against Iraq needs the blessing of the Security Council, and France wants a two-step resolution that would require the council to hold a separate vote to approve military action if Iraq does not comply with toughened inspection rules.
A senior U.S. official said diplomats in New York are cautiously optimistic. This week, Russia signaled for the first time its willingness to accept new inspection rules. British Prime Minister Tony Blair arrived in Moscow Thursday for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in which Iraq is expected to be a key topic.
U.S. officials say China is expected to at least abstain during any upcoming vote, primarily because Beijing does not want a U.S.-China rift to mar President Jiang Zemin's farewell visit to the United States this month.
Progress with the French, however, is not so clear, U.S. officials say.
A French diplomat confirmed that no one blinked during a 25-minute phone conversation Wednesday between Bush and French President Jacques Chirac.
The diplomat said Bush stood firm that there must be "consequences" threatened if Iraq fails to comply with new inspection rules; Chirac insisted that there cannot be an automatic use of force without a Security Council vote.
A U.S. official said he hoped the votes in Congress, along with telephone diplomacy by Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell, would narrow differences.
A French official said the Americans are unlikely to circulate a draft resolution until the middle of next week. She said if the current U.S. text were presented, it would not get more than six of the nine votes it needs for passage by the 15-member Security Council: the United States, Britain, Norway, Bulgaria, Colombia and Singapore.
Contributing: Judy Keen and Barbara Slavin |
