WASHINGTON — The Senate opened debate Thursday on a resolution that would clear the way for war with Iraq as President Bush again prodded the United Nations to get on board or get out of the way.
“We’ll determine whether or not the U.N. Security Council wants to live up to its obligations,” Bush said during a talk to Hispanic leaders at the White House.
But the president made no apparent headway in his efforts to win U.N. support for possible military action. France and Russia continued to resist his push for a proposed U.N. resolution that would authorize force if Iraq fails to comply with strict disarmament terms.
In Congress, the acknowledgment among lawmakers that they will easily approve a war resolution next week deflated any sense of drama in their high-stakes debate, even though it carries potentially large consequences. The House of Representatives and the Senate intend to vote next week for a resolution that will give Bush broad authority to wage war against Iraq on his timetable.
“It’s up to us today to send a message to the world,” Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., said.
At the United Nations, diplomats kept their focus on plans for a new round of weapons inspections in Iraq beginning as soon as mid-October. Nations opposed to Bush’s hard-line approach want the United Nations to avoid talk of war until inspectors have a chance to test Iraq’s willingness to cooperate. The return of inspectors after a four-year absence would complicate Bush’s bid for a new U.N. resolution authorizing force, and could become a big obstacle to his war plans.
British and U.S. diplomats described a growing consensus among members of the Security Council on the need for some type of new resolution establishing stronger terms governing a new round of inspections.
“There’s a general sense in there that we do still need greater clarity on arrangements to make sure inspections are really effective,” said one British diplomat who attended the meeting and who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Yet while the Security Council appears receptive to setting tougher terms for inspection — including insisting on unfettered access to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s palaces — France and Russia still oppose including language in this initial resolution that would authorize military action if Iraq fails to cooperate. Both nations hold veto power on the Security Council.
France favors requiring a second U.N. vote on the use of force if the inspection process fails. Top Russian diplomats said Thursday that any U.N. resolution with an automatic war trigger would be “unacceptable.”
Bush administration officials have a fallback plan if they are unable to convince the Security Council to approve a resolution with an automatic war trigger. If forced to deal with two U.N. votes, U.S. diplomats intend to make the resolution dealing with inspections so strongly worded that the United Nations would have little choice but to approve force is Saddam refuses to cooperate.
Bush displayed no appetite for compromise as he pressed the United Nations again Thursday to take a firm stand against Saddam.
“My intent, of course, is for the United Nations to do its job,” the president said. “I think it’ll make it easier for us to keep the peace. My intent is for the world to understand that the obligation is up to Saddam Hussein to disarm like he said he would do. . . . The military option is my last choice, not my first. . . . But Saddam has got to understand, the United Nations must know, that the will of this country is strong.”