According to this CNN report, tomorrow is make or break day in the UN. It sounds like they're going to call for a vote on an 18th resolution (not '2nd' as it's commonly refered to) in the UNSC. Either 1441 meant something or it didn't. Regardless, it looks like action will be starting soon.

Further down in the article, it claims that Chirac would be willing to agree to another 30 day extension in inspections, but to what purpose? Saddam has had 12 years to disarm, what would come from another 30 days? More to the point, what makes Chirac think he can be trusted after what he has been doing for the past several months? Once those 30 days were over, Chirac would probably keep on obstructing any efforts to actually enforce the resolutions.

In the end, the US doesn't need the UN's permission any more than France did when it went into the Ivory Coast. In all it's history, the UN has only authorized 2 military actions: the Korean War and the 1991 Gulf War. In both cases, the goal was stalemate, not victory. There have been dozens of wars fought since the UN was founded and all but 2 have not had the UN's permission. Why is this one different?