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Bush Winning Support For UN-Backed Action

A week ago, U.S. President George W. Bush faced skepticism and even opposition from foreign leaders and members of the U.S. Congress to the possibility of military action against Iraq and ousting its president, Saddam Hussein. By the end of the week, however, Bush was gathering foreign support for pursuing a United Nations mandate for going after Saddam.

Monday, September 16, 2002
By Andrew F. Tully
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

Russia, which has long maintained commercial ties with Iraq, issued a stern statement saying Hussein would face unspecified "consequences" for defying UN resolutions. And in their own speeches before the General Assembly, or in comments to reporters, national leaders and diplomats generally applauded Bush's effort to act within the United Nations. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw pledged his country's full support of whatever Bush decides to do. This was not surprising, given that his prime minister, Tony Blair, has said Britain is prepared to pay what he called a "blood price" to maintain its special relationship with the United States, just as many American soldiers had lost their lives in defense of Britain and other European states in two world wars.

UNITED NATIONS -- RFE/RL
U.S. President George W. Bush appears to be prepared, if not determined, to go to war with Iraq, with or without the formal support of the United Nations Security Council.

For months, Bush has been discussing a decade-old U.S. policy of overthrowing Saddam Hussein as president of Iraq. Many observers questioned his sudden interest in Saddam as Washington pursues its campaign against international terrorism.

Some American allies and members of the U.S. Congress, even those from Bush's Republican Party, said there was no evidence linking Saddam to the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001.

Eventually, it became clear that the Bush administration was focusing on Iraq because Saddam has repeatedly violated the terms of the cease-fire that ended hostilities in the 1991 Gulf War, most notably his refusal to readmit UN inspectors to search for weapons of mass destruction.

Bush says that when the Gulf War began, under the auspices of the UN and the military leadership of the United States, Saddam was about a year away from developing a nuclear weapon. According to Bush, the war severely stalled Iraq's weapons programs. But he said there is no reason to believe that Saddam has not made up for lost time in the nearly four years since the inspectors were last allowed in Iraq.

Despite this argument, Bush continued to face resistance, both domestically and from foreign governments, to the idea of resuming hostilities with Iraq. These critics agreed that Saddam is a dictator but said the United States has no right to decide unilaterally which heads of state have a right to power, and which do not.

These critics said Bush's attitude toward Iraq shows the same unilateralist approach that he took in refusing to ratify treaties that most other governments have embraced: the Kyoto treaty
on the world environment; the Rome Statute, which set up the International Criminal Court; and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty on nuclear weapons.

In recent weeks, however, Bush began a campaign to win support for action against Iraq. He began to court the U.S. Congress and to consult closely with America's allies overseas.
(More: RFERL.org News Source)
2002 © Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty.

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