US step up pressure on Iraq
The Bush administration has stepped up pressure for a new UN Security Council disarmament resolution for Iraq and disclosed plans for moving B-2 bombers closer to Baghdad, preparing for possible war to remove President Saddam Hussein.
President George W Bush, speaking yesterday in Nashville, Tennessee, said the UN must show that it is more than an “ineffective debating society” in confronting years of Iraq’s flouting of council disarmament resolutions.
Russia is among countries having second thoughts about a new resolution after Iraq promised unfettered access for UN weapons inspectors.
The inspectors left Iraq in December 1998 and have not been allowed back.
“For the sake of liberty and justice for all, the United Nations Security Council must act; must act in a way to hold this regime to account. It must not be fooled,” Mr Bush said.
Mr Bush has raised the spectre of military action to remove Saddam from power if the Iraqi leader fails to take steps to disarm.
He wants that authority to be included, at least implicitly, in any new Security Council resolution.
As a signal to the Iraqis, officials yesterday said the administration is seeking permission from Britain to base a small number of Air Force B-2 stealth bombers on the island of Diego Garcia in the northern Indian Ocean.
The B-2s normally are based on US territory, and deploying them in the Indian Ocean site would cut flight time in half.
On the diplomatic front, Russian foreign minister Igor Ivanov challenged the US demand for a new resolution.
He said there should be “no artificial delays” blocking the return of the inspectors.
“We don’t need any special resolution,” Mr Ivanov said. He said the inspectors “should go to Iraq and get down to discharging their functions” of determining how many weapons Iraq possesses.
Russia’s stand is crucial because of its role as a veto-wielding permanent member of the Security Council.
In Washington, Vice President Dick Cheney dismissed Iraq’s offer as the “sort of thing we’ve heard before”.
Citing a lengthy list of Saddam’s past promises, Mr Cheney told a Republican Party fund-raiser that Iraq’s lack of credibility was immediately evident in contention that it has no weapons of mass destruction.
Mr Cheney said that Saddam has “begun to reconstitute his nuclear programmes. We’ve seen a growing level of threat, He’s back at it again”.
Mr Bush will have a chance to make his case directly to the Russians on Friday when he meets with Mr Ivanov and defence minister Sergei Ivanov.
The President invited the four top congressional leaders to the White House for a meeting today as administration advisers worked on the terms of legislation that would give Bush the authority to use “all appropriate means” to force Iraq’s disarmament, an administration official said.
In the Senate, Majority Leader Tom Daschle said he thought there would be a vote on the issue well before the November elections.
Some Senate Democrats said they wanted to see how inspections played out before authorising military action.
“If they (inspections) fail, then we can consider a lot of options,” said Senator Richard Durbin.
A letter on Monday night from Iraqi foreign minister Naji Sabri offering unfettered UN inspections changed the political dynamic, leaving delegates wondering whether the Bush administration would be able to achieve its goal of a strongly worded resolution.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Iraq agreed to allow the inspectors’ return only because the “entire international community” united in opposition to Iraq after Mr Bush’s speech to the General Assembly last Thursday.
