| Submit your comments on this article |
| Axis of Evil |
| Bush Pitches Iraq War To UN Today |
| 2002-09-12 |
| President Bush will challenge the United Nations on Thursday to "act" and enforce its resolutions concerning Iraq, saying "inaction is simply not an option," a senior administration official told reporters. Without offering a preview of the speech, Bush said Tuesday following an event at the Afghan Embassy in Washington that he would make his case to the United Nations because "this is an international problem. We must work together to deal with the problem," Bush said. There seems to be a difference between passing resolutions and showing resolve... A senior administration official indicated Bush would not call for any deadlines for the United Nations to act or issue any ultimatums, saying the president's goal was to rally "international support for taking action to deal with the threat." Probably because they won't buy it at this stage. The nay-sayers remember what happened last time there was a deadline... At the same time, the official added, "The president is also going to make very clear that the United States is not prepared to stand by and let this situation continue." Bush has not made any decisions about what course of action to take, the official said. Seems like he's got the broad goals worked out, and maybe just doesn't have the detail decisions filled in yet... |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #3 War starts the week of Oct. 20, or no later than All Souls Day. How do I know? You may well ask. USS Constellation pulls out of San Diego next week, early for its regular schedule. Constellation, the oldest fleet carrier, is no longer robust enough to stand in the battle line. It will replace a modern carrier, probably in the Formosa Straits. It will take about 3 weeks for Constellation to reach Taiwan. Another 2 weeks or maybe a little less for the ship she replaces to reach the Arabian Sea. Then boom. The announcement today that Central Command is relocating from DisneyWorld to Qatar "in November" clinches the conclusion. The only element of strategic surprise left is timing. So the balloon goes up before November, and after roughly Oct. 20. It is said that we cannot number the hour and date of our death. True. But we can number the hour and date of other people's deaths. |
| Posted by: Harry 2002-09-12 18:18:46 |
| #2 I didn't get to see the speech, but I read the text just now on whitehouse.gov. The President said just about exactly what I was hoping he would say - in essence, he warned the member states of the UN that if they didn't take action now in the face of a decade of systematic flouting and defiance of multiple UN resolutions, the UN itself might as well pack up shop and go home. I agree with G that we won't see the actual operation get underway until the weather gets cooler, which will be at least a month yet, maybe two. This will also give GWB and his team more time to make _their_ case to the nation and the so-called "candid world". |
| Posted by: Joe 2002-09-12 12:26:27 |
| #1 Just saw the speech. Our President did a fine job overall, although I think the call for "spreading liberty" in other ME nations was waving a red flag. Also, he should have, IMHO, used the words "Saddam flouted the resolution.", rather than "Saddam broke his promise." There will be plenty of time to set deadlines: 9/12 was a good time to call for it, given that half the nations there put more weight on symbology than substance. Besides, an OPTIMAL attack can't be launched before it gets cooler in Iraq, so that our boys can don their NBC gear. |
| Posted by: G 2002-09-12 09:39:51 |