New blow to U.S. war plans
France, Russia, Germany say they will stop U.N. resolution
BREAKING NEWS
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PARIS, March 5 — The foreign ministers of France, Russia and Germany pledged Wednesday they will not allow a U.N. resolution to pass that authorizes war against Iraq. Their statement, which followed a hastily called meeting in Paris, came amid a quickening U.S. push for military action against Baghdad.
AT THE WHITE HOUSE, President Bush and his national security team were being briefed Wednesday on the likely battle plan by Gen. Tommy Franks, the commander who would lead the 300,000 troops now in the gulf region awaiting orders.
France and Russia, both permanent members of the Security Council with veto power, have been joined by Germany in pushing for inspectors to be given more time and muscle to peacefully rid Iraq of any banned weapons.
“We will not allow a resolution to pass that authorizes resorting to force,” French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said at a press conference.
“Russian and France, as permanent members of the Security Council, will assume their full responsibilities on this point.”
A U.S.-British-Spanish draft resolution, clearing the way for forcibly disarming Iraq, needs nine votes to pass in the 15-member U.N. Security Council, and no vetoes.
Earlier a German Foreign Ministry spokesman said Joschka Fischer canceled his meetings at home for the day and traveled to Paris on Wednesday to meet with his French and Russian counterparts, De Villepin and Igor Ivanov.
Ivanov came from London, where he met earlier in the day with Prime Minister Tony Blair, who has staunchly backed the use of force against Iraq if deemed necessary.
Ivanov met with French President Jacques Chirac before the talks with his fellow foreign ministers. Catherine Colonna, Chirac’s spokeswoman, said the two leaders remained committed to disarming Iraq without resorting to war.
CHALLENGE FOR U.N.
However, while the Bush administration wants a Security Council vote on its draft resolution next week, it warned that it is prepared to go to war without U.N. authority.
Secretary of State Colin Powell told RTL television of Germany on Tuesday that “the United States feels it is appropriate to move forward with a vote in the absence of compliance on the part of Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi regime.”
Blair, for his part, predicted Wednesday there would be a vote on a second U.N. resolution backing war with Iraq if President Saddam Hussein was not disarming, and he was sure it would be passed.
“If (Saddam) is not complying, there will undoubtedly be a resolution put to a vote,” he told parliament. “We are confident of securing the votes for that resolution.”
Bush talked by telephone to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee of India and President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt while Powell directed his telephone diplomacy toward Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez of Mexico and also talked to two supporters, Foreign Minister Ana Palacio of Spain and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw of Britain.
Powell’s spokesman, Richard Boucher, said meanwhile, that “we have emphasized the importance for members of the Security Council to stand up and be counted” and to reaffirm the resolution adopted last November that warned Iraq of serious consequences if it did not disarm.
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The Army’s oldest armored division, “Old Ironsides,” got orders to head for the Persian Gulf as the total of U.S. land, sea and air forces arrayed against Iraq or preparing to deploy neared 300,000.
WATCHING TURKEY
American war planners still hope the Turkish parliament will reverse itself and permit the deployment of 62,000 U.S. troops to pave the way for an invasion of Iraq from the north.
The payoff for Turkey would be a say in northern Iraq, a stronghold of the Kurds, and a $15 billion aid package from the United States.
Still, Powell said if the parliament remained opposed “we have alternative plans that will allow us to conduct any military operations that the president might order.
“We’ll still be able to accomplish our mission,” he declared.
While U.S. officials are not attempting a head count, a majority of the Security Council appears to prefer extending U.N. weapons inspections.
The White House and Powell left open the possibility that the administration would not seek a U.N. vote if the measure appeared to be doomed.
“The vote is desirable. It is not necessary,” presidential spokesman Ari Fleischer said.
And Powell said that after weapons inspectors Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei report on Friday he would consult with other nations over the weekend.
“And then early next week we’ll make a judgment on what we have heard and whether it’s time to put the resolution up to a vote.”
FINAL ULTIMATUM?
One option under serious consideration was Bush giving Iraqi President Saddam Hussein a final ultimatum, perhaps with a short-term deadline, in an address next week, two senior White House officials said.
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The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, stressed that a variety of options were under consideration and that they depended on the outcome of the debate in the council.
Among them is Bush’s oft-stated option of using force to disarm Iraq with a “coalition of the willing” alongside the United States if the council does not adopt the U.S-British-Spanish resolution.
Gen. Franks, who reviewed his war plan with commanders last week, met at the Pentagon with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and was to consult with President Bush and his advisers at the White House on Wednesday.
OTHER DEVELOPMENTS
Demonstrators clad in white pledged to become martyrs for Iraq on Wednesday, parading through the capital as Saddam Hussein sought to show he had support among his people against a possible U.S.-led war to oust his regime. The 90-minute parade on a major Baghdad street came as U.N. weapons inspectors returned Wednesday to sites around the city where they have been destroying banned missiles. The U.N. inspectors have crushed 19 Al Samoud 2 missiles since March 1, but it was not immediately known how many were destroyed Wednesday.
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NBC’s Andrea Mitchell and Tammy Kupperman in Washington, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. |
