23 January 2003
Secretary of State Colin Powell, chafing over criticism of the Bush administration's Iraq policy, says he sees no need for further inspections before moving ahead with enforcement of U.N. resolutions requiring Saddam Hussein to disarm.
A burgeoning dispute between the United States and some of its allies could hamper efforts to reach a consensus next week when the monitors report on 60 days of searches and the U.N. Security Council considers its next moves. [The White House Thursday shrugged off French and German opposition to the possibility of a U.S.-led war on Iraq, saying if war comes, a number of European countries will take sides with the United States, Reuters reported.
[Of France and Germany, said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, "it is their prerogative, if they choose, to be on the sideline" in the event of an Iraq war. [He cited Britain, Italy, Spain and Eastern European nations as countries that might support a U.S.-led effort against Iraq. He also said Australia would likely participate. ["This will be, if the president makes a determination to proceed, widely multilateral," said Fleischer. ]
On Thursday, Powell planned to plot a strategy at the State Department with Jack Straw, the British foreign secretary, and then with Vice President Dick Cheney. Of all U.S. allies, Britain has been most supportive of the Bush administration regarding Iraq.
Powell says the Bush administration is willing to wait for the inspectors to report. But he also said this week, ``Our position is that Saddam Hussein must be disarmed and he can either do it peacefully or he can step down and let someone else do it or it will be done for him.'' Powell singled out France, which along with Germany is resisting the push toward war. He said he hoped ``the French will come to the understanding of the need for such a strategy and the importance of such a strategy.'' Powell vowed that ``the United States will stick with that strategy.''
Last year, France held out for eight weeks before supporting a U.S. resolution in the Security Council that authorized a new round of inspections and warned Iraq that defiance could lead to serious consequences.
This week at the United Nations, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin hinted at a French veto if the United States tried to push a resolution through the Security Council calling for military action against Baghdad.
And French President Jacques Chirac stuck to his guns Wednesday, saying ``an extra delay is necessary'' for U.N. weapons inspectors to make searches. In Germany, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder told a rally of his Social Democratic party: ``Don't expect Germany to approve a resolution legitimatizing war. Don't expect it.'' Schroeder also said supporters of war with Iraq ``are on the wrong path.''
Powell said in an interview that he did not see the point of further delay for more inspections. ``How much longer should inspections go on?'' he asked in an question-and-answer session with representatives of a group of American newspapers. ``One month, two months, three months? What will be the difference if they (the Iraqis) are simply trying to get time in order to frustrate the purpose of the inspections?''
President Bush on Tuesday scolded nations that are demanding more time for inspections. On Wednesday, the president warned of ``serious consequences'' for Saddam and his generals should the United States attack.
National security adviser Condoleezza Rice, writing an article on the op-ed page of Thursday's editions of The New York Times, said that ``Iraq is still treating inspections as a game. It should know that time is running out.'' ``By both its actions and its inactions,'' she said, ``Iraq is proving not that it is a nation bent on disarmament, but that it is a nation with something to hide.''
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, joining the trans-Atlantic debate over inspections, said Germany and France were ``a problem,'' but that the vast majority of other countries in Europe backed the United States.
Meanwhile, NATO has postponed its planning for a possible war in Iraq under pressure from Germany and France, which have said they want to find a peaceful solution to the crisis. NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson on Thursday played down differences among the allies. ``This is not some sort of bust-up,'' Robertson told a news conference. ``It is a disagreement on timing, not on substance.''
Anti-war demonstrations drew tens of thousands to Washington last weekend and recent polls suggest Bush has failed to convince most Americans there is justification for military action to topple Saddam.
Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters that American forces had the training and flexibility to initiate combat operations at any time.
The enormous buildup of U.S. troops on Iraq's periphery -- to exceed 150,000 within weeks -- is designed not only to give Bush the option of using force to disarm and oust Saddam but also to heighten the pressure on the Iraqi leader to give up without a fight.
Rumsfeld said a war with Iraq could last ``four days, four weeks or four months,'' and that it seemed reasonable to expect that large numbers of Iraqi troops would surrender early as they did in the 1991 Gulf War, reducing the number of battlefield casualties.
Myers, who held talks with Turkish officials in Ankara on Monday, said: ``I am told the United States is impatient with Turkey. That's not the case.'' Turkey and Saudi Arabia provided important support to the U.S.-led coalition against Iraq in the 1991 Persian Gulf war, and their assistance is being solicited again.
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