Tag: War

Iraq Resolution Moving

President Bush announced in the Rose Garden yesterday that he's reached agreement with the House on the wording of a resolution authorizing the use of force in Iraq. He was flanked by a boatload of congressmen and senators from both parties, with the conspicuous absence of Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD). The President slightly softened his position on military action, saying only that it "may be inevitable." The New York Times has text of the resolution. The Senate is still divided, and debates are likely to begin next week.

The House resolution mentions the war on terrorism specifically, as well as Iraq's violations on UN Security Council resolutions. It specifically authorizes the use of force under the War Powers Act for the purposes of defending the security of the United States and enforcing UN resolutions.

White House Advocates Assassination

White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer was asked about the Congressional Budget Office's estimate that a war in Iraq would cost $9 billion dollars a month. Fleischer agreed that the non-partisan CBO's estimate was a lot of money, and said it is more "than the cost of a one-way ticket." After a somewhat dramatic pause, he added: "The cost of one bullet, if the Iraqi people take it on themselves, is substantially less." When asked to expand on that, Fleischer repeatedly said that "regime change is welcome in whatever form it takes." He then cooled things off with "I'm not stating Administration policy, I'm stating the obvious."

UN, Iraq Agree on Inspections

UN and Iraqi negotiators agreed Tuesday on the details of the impending weapons inspections. The US announced that, as predicted by Secretary of State Colin Powell yesterday, the inspections are not sufficient and that the US-Britain resolution in the Security Council will change the terms of the inspections. Iraq immediately announced that it will not cooperate with any new changes to the inspection regime. US objections notwithstanding, the inspections could begin in two weeks.

Bush: Don’t Tie My Hands

President Bush announced that the bipartisan Biden-Lugar resolution is too restrictive, and is even weaker than the original 1998 congressional resolution authorizing force against Iraq. He warned Congress to not "tie my hands."

Blair Wants Ultimatum

British Prime Minister Tony Blair says that an international coalition must demand the elimination of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, and that demand must be backed by force. He said that failure to act as a coalition will imperil the legitimacy of the United Nations.

UNMOVIC Talks Winding Up

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."

UN, Iraq in Inspection Talks

UNMOVIC head Hans Blix and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) officials are meeting with Iraqi representatives in Vienna to discuss the protocols for the impending inspections, currently scheduled to begin October 15th. The director of the IAEA, Mohammed El-Baradei, spoke of "progress." The talks are being held under the old inspection rules, which include inspections of "presidential" locations by appointment only. The talks will end tomorrow, when the IAEA and UNMOVIC must wait for UN Security Council approval of the mission.

US Aims At Iraqi Officers

The Washington Post put an older, but still interesting item on its front page: the US is targeting a propaganda campaign at Iraqi officers who have been given discretion to launch attacks using weapons of mass destruction. Secretary Rumsfeld testified to the House Armed Services Committee that the US will threaten to unleash its full wrath on any officer using the weapons: "Wise Iraqis will not obey orders to use WMD [weapons of mass destruction]. . . . The United States will make clear at the outset that those who are not guilty of atrocities can play a role in the new Iraq. But if WMD is used, all bets are off." WaPo points out that during the Gulf War, the coalition threatened to topple Hussein if he used chemical weapons. Now that "regime change" is the stated goal, the US must find another deterrent.

So far, no other outlets have picked up this story.