Global Policy Forum

By Olivier Knox

US President George W. Bush warned the UN Security Council Saturday that it has less than two months to prove its mettle by passing a resolution, to be unveiled next week, paving the way for war with Iraq.

Asked during a press conference with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar 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."

But the US leader said "no" to giving the Council two months to approve the measure, which will lay out "in clear and simple terms that Iraq is not complying" with a November 8 UN disarmament ultimatum. That warning, UN Security Council Resolution 1441, warned Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein of "serious consequences" for failing to abandon any chemical, biological or nuclear weapons programs as well as banned missile systems.

"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," the US leader said. Bush - who had called for Resolution 1441 in a September 12 speech at the United Nations headquarters - has repeatedly warned that he will strip Iraq of weapons by force if necessary if the world body fails to act.

Asked about UN weapons inspectors imposing a March 1 deadline for Baghdad to begin destroying banned missiles, Bush mocked that arsenal as just the "tip of the iceberg." 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 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. Veto-wielding permanent UN Security Council members France, Russia, and China oppose the US hard-line, but it was unclear whether they would veto the US-backed resolution. Germany and Syria also oppose military action.

Britain, Bulgaria and Aznar's Spain back Washington, while Angola, Cameroon, Chile, Guinea, Mexico and Pakistan are undecided. "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.

Bush and top aides are reaching out by telephone to the 14 other UN Security Council members, and Washington is relying on allies like Aznar to win over skeptics in what one senior official dubbed "circular diplomacy."

After his visit to Bush's ranch, Aznar will travel to Paris for talks with French President Jacques Chirac, one of the most vocal foes of military action against Iraq at this point. Aznar will receive Britain's Tony Blair - Bush's closest ally on Iraq - on February 27 and 28.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Washington and Ankara were having "good conversations" aimed at working out a multi-billion-dollar economic assistance deal in return for permission to base troops in Turkey in the event of war with neighboring Iraq. "I anticipate they will continue for a little bit longer," he said.

The Spanish leader's visit here was an unusual honor: Only Blair, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz have been invited to Bush's ranch since he took office.

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