U.N. Report Underscores Split in Security Council

Both pro and anti-war camps in the U.N. Security Council felt their positions justified following the second Iraqi disarmament report by chief weapons inspector Hans Blix on Friday.

Blix told the U.N. Security Council that the Iraqi government’s move to destroy the “al-Samoud” missiles capable of firing chemical and biological weapons, constituted a “substantial measure of disarmament.” At the same time Blix criticized the slow pace at which Saddam Hussein’s government has handed over documents on biological and chemical weapons.

“Only a few such documents have come to light so far and been handed over since we began inspections,” Blix told the security council on Friday.

Saddam's "apparent" compliance

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said such delay was proof that Baghdad’s cooperation was “more apparent than real.” In his push for a second resolution authorizing military action against Iraq, Powell said there was intelligence indicating Iraq was shopping in a European country for aluminum tubes used in the construction of a nuclear bomb. Powell urged Security Council members to show a unified readiness for military action.

“Now is the time for the council to tell Saddam that the clock has not been stopped by his stratagems and his machinations,” Powell said.

Anti-war bloc see themselves justified

The foreign ministers of Germany, France and Russia -- the three countries firmly against military action without U.N. approval -- said Blix’s report proved that the U.N. was on the right path.

German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said Blix’s report proves that the U.N. resolution is a “viable response,” to disarming Iraq.

“Baghdad could have taken many of the recent steps earlier and more willingly. In recent days, cooperation has nevertheless notably improved,” said Fischer. “This is a positive development which makes all the less comprehensible why this latest development should now be abandoned.”

France’s Foreign Minister, who has spearheaded the peaceful disarmament bloc in the security council said it won’t allow a second resolution that automatically authorizes war.

“We cannot accept an ultimatum as long as the inspectors are reporting progress,” said Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin. “That would mean war.”

U.S.-U.K. will present new resolution

France was backed by statements from China and Russia. All three have permanent seats in the security council, giving them the right to veto any resolution. To avoid a possible veto, and meet the anti-war bloc halfway, Great Britain and the U.S. will next week present a resolution that would offer Hussein a brief time window for full compliance -- until March 17 -- before a military invasion.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters on Friday that the U.S. government felt a military invasion was justified even without a U.N. resolution. Fleischer echoed the message delivered by President George W. Bush Thursday night, who said the U.S. would be willing to invade without a mandate.

“When it comes to our security, we really don’t need anybody’s permission,” Bush told a press conference. “If we need to act we will act and we really don’t need United Nations approval to do so.”