WASHINGTON, 3 October — President George W. Bush yesterday got vital backing from Congress in his quest for a war on Iraq, but seemed far from receiving a UN endorsement for the venture. Iraq remained defiant, rejecting a tough US-backed UN resolution on arms inspections. Baghdad said three people were wounded when US and British warplanes yesterday bombed "civilian" targets in the south of the country.
In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov signaled a slight shift toward Washington when Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said he would consider backing new UN resolutions if UN weapons inspectors needed them.
Iraq has said it will allow inspectors, who left in 1998, back into the country although it has indicated it wants some limits on their work. Bush says that is not acceptable.
Washington pressed ahead at the United Nations for a tough new resolution including an explicit threat of military action if President Saddam Hussein limits inspections on the ground, something Moscow previously resisted.
Leaders in the US House of Representatives agreed on the terms of a resolution endorsing military force against Iraq. Bush welcomed it, saying time was running out for Saddam.
The resolution would authorize Bush to use military force "as he determines to be necessary and appropriate" to defend the United States and enforce all relevant UN Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq.
Bush, speaking in the White House Rose Garden surrounded by leading Republican and Democratic members of Congress who support his tough stance, said this was an important show of US unity to allies as well as to Iraq.
Agreement on the US House resolution, which was quickly introduced into the Senate by influential senators, put pressure on Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota to end a separate attempt at negotiating a resolution narrowing the grounds for waging war.
The draft resolution’s text made clear the authorization for action applies specifically to Iraq, dropping language which Bush had wanted that would have allowed him to use military force to restore peace and security in the region. Some lawmakers had feared that reference would give Bush a blank check to launch attacks throughout the Middle East.
Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz refused to back the new US-drafted UN resolution, which demands Iraq open every inch of its territory to inspectors or face swift attack. "This proposal of the United States is unacceptable, not only by Iraq, it’s unacceptable by the Security Council because there is no need for a new resolution," Aziz told a news conference in Turkey.
Britain is proposing a compromise plan that would endorse France’s demand for two separate new Security Council resolutions. British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Jack Straw, the foreign secretary, are urging the United States to embrace a proposal by French President Jacques Chirac for one resolution demanding that Iraq give unfettered access to weapons inspectors and a second one allowing military force if inspectors are frustrated.
Under this plan, the Security Council would reach agreement on both resolutions, but only the first one would be formally tabled. This would help to allay the fears of France, Russia and China that Washington is determined to launch military action whatever Saddam’s response.
The second resolution will be tabled for adoption as soon as there is evidence that the inspectors cannot carry out their work properly, paving the way for the use of force. British officials believe that a modified version of the French plan offers the best way to close divisions in the Council. They hope that a deal can be struck next week. It is far from clear, however, whether the US is ready to accept the two-stage approach.
The US-drafted single resolution includes a provision to declare Iraq in "material breach" of its obligations if it fails to abide by every letter of the text. The American draft would surely fall foul of France and Russia. It calls for inspectors to be escorted by armed guards. They would have the right to interview Iraqis outside the country and to institute no-fly and no-drive zones around sites they visit.
