U.S., France Have Standoff at U.N. Over Iraq

U.S., France Have Standoff at U.N. Over Iraq

Stewart Stogel
Thursday, Oct. 10, 2002

UNITED NATIONS – The Bush administration has rejected the latest French moves aimed at getting a U.N. Security Council resolution on Iraq.

"I have seen it. It is nothing new, really. We are not interested," explained U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte.

Negroponte spoke after paying a brief courtesy call to council president Martin Belinga-Eboutou of Cameroon on Wednesday evening.

The U.S. ambassador admitted that "virtually no progress" had been made in the last month with the French, Russians and Chinese, who with the U.S. and United Kingdom form the council's five permanent veto-wielding members.

According to Negroponte, Paris still insists that the White House agree to a "two-step" resolution.

The first resolution would warn Iraq to cooperate with U.N. arms inspectors. It would not authorize military action.

If the Iraqis did not cooperate, Washington would then need to return to the council to receive an authorization to begin a military campaign against Baghdad.

"Two resolutions? We are having a hard time with just one. Do you really think we want to go through this twice?" asked Negroponte.

His remarks came amidst reports that "little progress" was made between President Bush and French President Jacques Chirac during a phone conversation Wednesday.

The prolonged standoff between Washington and Paris have many at U.N. headquarters believing that Washington has already made the decision to attack Baghdad.

"It sure seems that way," said one U.N. staffer who is close to the Iraq situation. "Everything coming out of Washington tells me that the U.S. has already made its decision."

This comes as the U.N. arms inspectors complete their latest "field training" course in Vienna.

U.N. chief arms inspector Dr. Hans Blix sent a letter Tuesday to Baghdad detailing how inspections and interviews would be carried out.

After meeting with Secretary of State Colin Powell in Washington, Blix decided Friday to delay the arms inspectors' arrival in Iraq "temporarily." It was scheduled for Oct. 19.

Blix explained that he believed the Security Council should finish its negotiations on Iraq before his inspectors "hit the ground."

The latest standoff between Paris and Washington are making diplomats wonder if any inspections will ever take place.

When asked if the U.N. must move before the U.S. midterm elections Nov. 5, Negroponte responded, "That's too far into the future for me to look."

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:

Bush Administration

Saddam Hussein/Iraq

United Nations

Editor's note:
Saddam Hussein’s race to make a nuclear bomb