>>U.S. Takes Possession of a Copy of Iraq Report to the U.N.
By JULIA PRESTON
UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 9 — The United States took possession of a copy of Iraq's huge declaration of its weapons programs after persuading the other four permanent members of the Security Council that they should insist on seeing the document immediately, American diplomats said.
The move by Washington, which came about midnight, abruptly reversed a decision by all 15 Council nations last Friday that they should all hold off on receiving the declaration until it had been purged by United Nations experts of information that could be used to make a nuclear weapon.
The Bush administration's change of heart was prompted by its eagerness to make its own study of the 12,000-page declaration and compare it with American intelligence.
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice decided they did not want to wait for the seven to 10 days that Hans Blix and other United Nations weapons experts estimated they would need to screen the documents for data that could lead to nuclear proliferation, United States officials said. The administration wants to see as soon as possible if there are omissions or inconsistencies in the vast report that would put Iraq in new violation of Council resolutions demanding that it disarm.
Most of the 10 non-permanent members of the Council agreed — some of them very reluctantly — to be excluded for the time being from seeing the declaration, diplomats said. But Syria, the only Arab nation on the Council, strongly objected and accused Colombia, the country that holds the Council presidency this month, of violating basic diplomatic norms.<<
nytimes.com
I dunno why, but this just tickles me. Not the deeper meaning, just the grabbing and the squabbling and the sulking and pouting. |
