Posted on 02/22/2003 4:06:26 PM PST by Davea
Sunday February 23, 5:23 AM
Bush warns UN has "last chance" on Iraq
US President George W. Bush said that the UN Security Council would have less than two months to pass a new resolution that paves the way for war against Iraq.
As Bush announced that a new resolution would be introduced next week, chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix demanded that Iraq start destroying its stock of banned missiles within a week.
"Time is short. And this is the chance for the Security Council to show its relevance, and I believe the Security Council will show its relevance because Saddam Hussein has not disarmed," Bush said after meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar at his Texas ranch.
Asked during a joint press conference whether the measure will amount to the world body's last chance to prove its relevance in the standoff, Bush curtly replied: "Yes. 'Si.' Last chance."
The US leader also said "no" to giving the council two months to approve the US-backed measure, which will lay out "in clear and simple terms that Iraq is not complying" with a November 8 UN disarmament ultimatum.
Saddam "has no intention of disarming, otherwise he would have done so," Bush said after he and Aznar held a four-way telephone conversation with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
All four nations have taken a hard-line stance against Iraq and are coordinating an all-out diplomatic campaign to win the nine votes needed for the 15-member council to approve the measure.
"We are working in order that the UN Security Council, in its role based on the UN charter, may work toward peace and security in the world through a new resolution that has the greatest support and majority support," Aznar said through an interpreter.
Meanwhile, Blix's March 1 deadline for Baghdad to begin the demolition of its Al-Samoud 2 missiles and warheads gave Iraq a chance to provide rapid proof of its good faith and willingness to comply with UN demands on disarmament.
The deadline is being viewed as a key test of the assertion by diplomatic sources in Baghdad that "the Iraqis are ready to respond to all of Blix's demands."
But it leaves Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein facing a dilemma, observers said. Getting rid of the missiles would deprive Iraq of a key arm in its defense against a US-led attack, while failure to destroy them could be used by Washington and London as a justification for war.
Blix's order came in a four-page letter "concerning the destruction of the Al-Samoud 2 missiles and associated equipment" which was delivered to the Iraqi ambassador to the United Nations, Mohammed al-Douri. A copy was sent to the Security Council, spokesman Ewen Buchanan said.
Earlier this week, the head of one of Iraq's missile factories said 50 Al-Samouds had been delivered to the Iraqi army and another 50 were on the assembly line.
Blix told the UN Security Council on February 14 that two declared variants of the Al-Samoud missile were banned under Security Council Resolution 687, which imposed a 150-kilometer (95-mile) limit on the range of Iraqi ballistic missiles.
The resolution, which defined the terms of the Gulf War ceasefire in April 1991, required Iraq to scrap missiles beyond that range -- along with its nuclear, chemical and biological weapons -- under international supervision.
In Tehran, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei said: "We have not yet finished our work and Iraq is not yet fully cooperating with us.
"We particularly don't have full access to Iraqi scientists and we hope that Iraq would cooperate in the coming weeks."
British Prime Minister Tony Blair had a 30-minute private audience with Pope John Paul II, one of the staunchest opponents of military strikes on Baghdad, at the Vatican.
The head of the Roman Catholic Church urged Blair to make "every effort" to avoid going to war against Iraq as he came face to face with a leading protagonist of a military assault on Baghdad for the first time.
"The Holy Father hoped that, in finding a solution to the grave situation in Iraq, every effort be made to avoid new divisions in the world," the Vatican said.
Meanwhile, Turkey was nearing an agreement with Washington for use of its strategic bases, ports and territory in an invasion.
Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis had said in Ankara that the two nations were "quite close" to a deal that would open his country to US troops and materiel, providing a vital northern flank for any invasion of neighboring Iraq. "If there is a will, this could be finalized by working on Saturday and Sunday," he said.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak expressed fears that it was already too late to avoid a war in Iraq, as American and British troops in the region were already on a war footing.
"American and British troops are already on a war footing in the region. That's a big problem. Will they be prepared to withdraw if Saddam Hussein shows that he no longer has weapons of mass destruction?" he said in an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel.
??
Well, the new moon in March is "less than two months" away.
UN relevance ping.
This is clearly and explicitly a deadline for the U.N., not for Iraq. But the U.N. will do nothing; it is on its last legs.
But the UN has been doing nothing for 50 years.
So why is it on its last legs?
Because the U.S. is going to call the U.N, on it this time; at least the U.S. is giving every sign of intending to do so.
The "Si" was because he has been speaking with Spanish Prime Minister Aznar today in Texas, and they, along with PM Blair, have drafted the resolution that is to be brought next week.
Still, I don't understand the "two months" thing.
More than the mideast is going to get a makeover before all is said and done.
And we can all hope that the UN will go down in a blaze of irrelevant glory.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.