Word: ultimatum
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...Colin Powell had been trying to avoid. Not that Powell is in any rush to go to war, but the deal hammered out Tuesday in Vienna after two days of talks between Iraqi officials and UN arms inspectors is based on existing UN resolutions, rather than the tough new ultimatum for which Washington has been pushing at the Security Council. And that could make the difference, for London and Washington, between effective and ineffective inspections. Most irksome to the U.S. in the current deal is the fact that eight Iraqi "presidential sites" remain subject to rules requiring prior notice...
...open all its military sites and weapons plants to inspectors. It is already clear that the trick to writing a winning resolution will be to find language that includes enough patience to keep the Europeans from opposing the U.S. or abstaining in the Security Council - and enough of an ultimatum to keep Washington from bolting the U.N. and acting alone. Evidence that Iraq is harboring or helping terrorists gives the U.S. another argument in the battle of the wordsmiths - and could also provide another rationale for an invasion if weapons of mass destruction are counted, found or removed...
...Portugal's. But it does still have the same power as the U.S., Britain, France and China to veto UN Security Council resolutions. That's why President Bush on Thursday sent an envoy to Moscow in an effort to persuade President Vladimir Putin to back a tough new UN ultimatum to Iraq to disarm, or else. Russia has maintained that Saddam Hussein's recent offer to comply with new arms inspections means that no new resolutions are necessary. But Kremlin-watchers have long suggested this was a bargaining strategy, designed to win guarantees on Russian interests in a post-Saddam...
...That leaves the U.S. scrambling to maintain international pressure on Saddam, even as talks are underway over practical arrangements for new arms inspections. The immediate goal of U.S. diplomacy will be to define a new inspection regime according to tough and non-negotiable ultimatums laid out in a new Security Council resolution. Russia insists there's no need for any new resolution, but France may be more inclined to accept one that unambiguously defines what is expected - although it is reluctant to authorize the use of force before the Council itself has concluded that Iraq is failing to comply with...
...diplomatic calculus, it hasn't deterred U.S. war preparations. The Bush Administration's purpose throughout the current political-diplomatic campaign on Iraq has been to build support for a war to oust Saddam. Referring Iraq's defiance of UN resolutions back to the international body and setting a new ultimatum was a "trigger" strategy, designed to ensure maximum international consent for a war the Administration appears to believe is inevitable. The Administration has been mindful of the danger of getting bogged down in a lengthy new round of arms inspections that both delay the march to war and, key Administration...