Kindgo
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God is in charge. All we can do is pray for our leaders and each other.
But in order for prophecy to be fulfilled this may HAVE to happen.
Negotiations on U.N. Iraq Resolution in 'Final Moments'
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,66503,00.html
Wednesday, October 23, 2002
UNITED NATIONS — Facing opposition from France and Russia, the United States stepped up pressure on the U.N. Security Council Wednesday to quickly approve its tough new Iraq resolution, but acknowledged a vote could go either way.
As the five permanent council members -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China -- met again to discuss the new draft resolution, the White House said it wanted to complete negotiations quickly.
Talks about a resolution have reached their "final moments" and are down to the nitty gritty of precise wording, White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said.
"The end is coming into sight. It is not there yet, but it is coming into sight. The end is either an agreement or a failure to reach agreement. It could be either one right now," he said.
Fleischer's push for speedy action was delivered less than 24 hours after U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte said the negotiating process needed "a little bit of time" and State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said he expected negotiations to be "complicated" and "messy."
The United States has been discussing a new resolution with the five permanent veto-holding council members since early October. It has not yet been given to the 10 elected Security Council members, who vote on resolutions, but don't have power.
For a resolution to pass, it needs nine "yes" votes from the 15 council members, and no veto by a permanent member.
The United States and Britain have been at odds with France, Russia and China over how tough a new resolution should be -- and Tuesday's initial reactions to the new U.S. draft showed no signs that they were any closer.
Washington, backed by London, is pushing a single resolution that would allow force to be used against Iraq if it doesn't meet its U.N. disarmament obligations.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw also stepped up pressure on the council Wednesday to make a decision.
But Paris, Moscow and Beijing still want a two-stage approach giving Iraq another chance to comply with U.N. weapons inspectors and only authorizing force in a second resolution if Baghdad obstructed inspections.
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov was quoted as telling journalists in Moscow that "the American draft resolution ... does not answer the criteria which the Russian side laid out earlier and which it confirms today."
On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Ministry official Mikhail Bogdanov was quoted by the ITAR-Tass news agency as saying: "The draft practically left out the elements of automatic use of force. But there are other provisions which, in our view, are very hard for Iraqis to accept, the more so because they contradict earlier U.N. Security Council resolutions."
French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said Tuesday in Luxembourg: "There is still a lot of work to do." And a senior Chinese diplomat at the United Nations, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: "It's a pity there are no substantive changes from the previous text."
In Amman, Jordan, Iraq's Culture Minister Hamed Yousef Hamadi called the U.S. draft a "declaration of war."
At Tuesday's meetings of the five permanent council members in New York, diplomats went line-by-line through the seven-page text.
Diplomats said Russia was most vocal in its opposition.
The issue of a new resolution has been at the United Nations since President Bush addressed the General Assembly on Sept. 12 and warned that if the Security Council didn't act decisively to disarm Saddam Hussein, the United States would take action on its own.
Negroponte said the United States wants to avoid a veto and achieve consensus in the Security Council.
One of the major problems in achieving that consensus is that the new U.S. proposal includes phrases that could be interpreted as triggering military action.
Last week, Washington backed down from its demand that the resolution authorize the use of "all necessary means" if Iraq failed to comply and agreed instead to let inspectors go to Iraq and report any violations or interference with inspections to the Security Council.
The new U.S. draft would then have the council convene immediately to discuss the situation — but U.S. officials have said this doesn't commit the Bush administration to wait for council action before it acts.
As in the original U.S. draft resolution, the new one demands that Iraq accept the resolution within seven days of its adoption and declare its programs to develop nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and ballistic missiles within 30 days. Inspectors would then have up to 45 days to resume inspections.
In the new U.S. text, there are now two references -- not one -- to Iraq being in "material breach" for violating U.N. resolutions, a phrase that some legal experts say could open the door for military action.
One reference says a false statement or omission in Iraq's declaration of its weapons programs and Iraq's failure to comply with inspectors would constitute "further material breach of Iraq's obligations," according to excerpts of the draft obtained by The Associated Press Tuesday.
The U.S. draft also recalls Security Council warnings that Iraq would face "serious consequences," as a result of its continued violations of its obligations.
Inspectors must certify that Iraq's chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs have been destroyed before sanctions imposed on Iraq after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait can be lifted.
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God bless,
Kindgo
Inside the will of God there is no failure. Outside the will of God there is no success.
Posts: 4320 | From: Sunny Florida | Registered: Jun 2002
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