With the US-British resolution expected to show up as early as today, the BBC has Secretary of State Colin Powell giving the UN weapons inspectors a heads-up: “I think [the inspectors]… will have to wait and see whether or not the Security Council comes up with new guidance or additional resolutions.” UNMOVIC head Hans Blix replied, “I’m asked by the Security Council to do this job, and I do it. I try to.”
Powell is talking about, among other things, the US plan to arm the inspectors, and to create no-fly, no-drive zones around inspection sites which was also reported by the Washington Post today. That plan, and others in the ever-changing draft resolution, could change the parameters of any UN-led inspection.
This LA Times op-ed reminds us that Blix is due to report to the Security Council on Thursday, which may or may not happen if the US-British resolution gets there first.
Reuters seems to think that Iraq’s behavior at the UNMOVIC talks may soften the impending UN resolution. The idea is that France, Russia and China are promoting a two-step approach which would not threaten military force until a preliminary inspection resolution has been violated. A well-behaved Iraq could support their position. The Bush Administration and British Prime Minister Tony Blair have both been openly skeptical about both the two-step strategy and the UNMOVIC talks.
Yet another LA Times op-ed says that this is a split between the US and the UN, a natural side-effect of President Bush’s “uncompromising” rhetoric. LAT is concerned that the US unilateralism is undermining the UN’s authority, almost guaranteeing a war. Anonymous UN diplomats quoted in the piece seem to agree.
Driving the point home, CNN is presaging that Tony Blair’s speech to the Labour Party today will make the case that enforcing inspections by force from the outset is the only way to guarantee Iraqi cooperation.
a technology job is no excuse 