Bush & UN

[Tom]

So what do you guys make of Bush's UN speech?

The way I see it is that it's a complete u-turn on his previous position - invade Iraq.

Now it seems that its: Let the weapons inspectors in or we will attack (furthermore we would really like if the security council will play along).

I heard two Washington hawks say that nothing had changed and that this had always been their position. Hmm! Did I just misunderstand them?

One of the hawks said some thing like "if Saddam Hussein lets in weapons inspectors and complies with UN resolutions then he is no longer acting like a tyrant and that would be a regime change". Was that what they meant by regime change?

What do you guys across the pond think?

[Osiris]

Originally posted by Tom
The way I see it is that it's a complete u-turn on his previous position - invade Iraq.
What do you guys across the pond think?

From what I've heard, it seems not quite a full u-turn, but certainly a big shift in direction. Could be because most other countries were reluctant to support military action favouring some attempt to get the arms inspectors back in instead.

This could be a solution, although Richard Butler, the head of the UN arms inspectors installed after the Gulf War complained of being increasingly restricted in what he and his crew were allowed to inspect before they were eventually kicked out on suspicion of being spies for the US.

On the other hand, if Saddam refuses the inspectors, Bush may be able to rustle up more support for direct military action.

[HighLordDave]

Dubya is backpeddling because he's just now realising what a bad idea invading Iraq at this time is. House majority leader **** Armey even has reservations about going after Saddam Hussein without proof that he's an imminent threat.

The best way for Dubya to get the war he wants is to demand that UN weapons inspectors have unrestricted access to any and all sites they want to see. If Iraq stonewalls or tries to block the UN, they aren't just slapping the US in the face, they're going against the international community, who almost unanimously backs weapons inspections and some other diplomatic solution.

At the same time, the UN needs to have the weapons inspection teams be made up of people who are credible, not the CIA-laden teams that went in in the mid-90s. I think Dubya knows that invading Iraq won't give him the mid-term boost he was looking for (perhaps he's saving that for his own re-election bid) and that domestic support for his war is flagging.

[fable]

Bush is playing the UN's game while in it's court. I wouldn't expect him to say anything deleterious of the UN while faced with the heads of more than two hundred nations, most of whom put far more faith in UN actions than does the US. If he'd try pushing his domestic "Let's go it alone" agenda, he would have offended plenty of people whose support he knows, behind the scenes, he truly needs. The US does not need to be branded a pariah nation on his watch--not after his abrupt dismissal of signed treaties and many in negotiation.

I would still expect Bush to pursue the unilateralist agenda privately. He always has, and he shows no imagination capable of considering any other nation worthy of more than being a US sidekick.