WASHINGTON, 12 January 2003 — The Bush administration yesterday signaled that the prospect of an early military strike against Iraq was receding — largely as the result of pressure exerted in private by Britain.
After weeks of expectation that the publication of the UN weapons inspectors’ report on Jan. 27 would effectively trigger a confrontation, officials now admit this is unlikely. They say that Bush now accepts that the inspectors require further time and that this should be granted.
“The odds have gone down for war,” said a well-placed US official. “We don’t have a good war plan, the inspectors have unprecedented access to Iraq (and) we have just started giving them intelligence. We now have to give them more time to see how this works. There is no reason to stop the process until it cannot proceed any further.” The comments — made to the Washington Post — mark a rapid turnaround from the situation just 10 days ago when America and Britain were apparently engaged on a march to war that could have seen a strike against President Saddam Hussein’s forces as early as mid-February.
Several factors have come together to influence the Bush administration’s decision: the crisis with North Korea, the apparent reluctance of Turkey to allow the US to launch a northern strike from its country, and the weapons inspectors’ request for more time.
But US officials admit that comments from Britain and other allies such as France, both in public and reinforced privately, have given the US an unambiguous message.
Downing Street indicated last night that British Prime Minister Tony Blair had not spoken personally with Bush, but officials said Britain’s message had been delivered at the highest levels. The message reflected Blair’s comments to the Cabinet last week that Jan. 27 should not be regarded “in any sense as a deadline”.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell said: “My job ... is to listen to our friends and see if we can find a way to accommodate the positions they bring to us. Prime Minister Blair and (Foreign Secretary, Jack) Straw are never shrinking violets when it comes to laying forth the position of Her Majesty’s Government. And we are trying to listen. To characterize Prime Minister Blair as a poodle is an absolutely absurd and silly charge.”
While negotiations continue, America is also building up its military presence in the Gulf. On Friday, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld signed the deployment order for a further 35,000 US troops — including 17,000 Marines — to be dispatched, bringing the number of US forces in the region to around 100,000 by the end of the month.
UN weapons inspectors flew by helicopter to an oil facility west of Baghdad yesterday as they scoured more suspect sites in search of alleged Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.
The inspections, now in their seventh week. In the second aerial inspection since they resumed work in Iraq on Nov. 27, the experts flew on board two UN helicopters to the K-3 oil facility near the town of Haditha, 300 km northwest of Baghdad, witnesses said.
The inspectors checked out the airfield at the facility and held talks with the head of the site. They stayed about 90 minutes before heading back. A UN spokesman said the airfield was “currently not operating as an airfield”.
The weapons inspectors started making aerial inspections on Tuesday but bad weather later in the week prevented more missions by helicopter. (The Independent)
