As President Bush headed to an emergency summit in the Azores, Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Sunday he did not expect a new diplomatic effort to emerge from it.
Appearing on the ABC "This Week" program from Washington, where he said he remained to coordinate with other foreign ministers, Powell reiterated that the United States opposed giving Saddam Hussein much additional time to disarm as demanded by the United Nations.
"I'm not expecting, really, a new proposal" to come from the three-way session between Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, he said.
"Is it time to bring the curtain down on this or is there some hope?" Secretary of State Colin Powell said, previewing the discussions. "It's not a war council, and ultimatums are not the issue today. The issue today is, `Has the diplomatic track run its course?'"
Powell added later on CNN's "Late Edition" that journalists and others should consider leaving Baghdad not just for the dangers of a possible U.S.-led attack but also because Saddam could take them hostage. "My personal advice is they ought to take a hard look at the situation they are in, and it would probably be better for them to start leaving or make plans to leave," Powell said.
Powell did not say whether the United States would withdraw the second resolution now pending before the U.N. Security Council.
"We have had timelines, we have had deadlines, we have had benchmarks. The problem is, Iraq is not complying. Iraq is playing the United Nations and playing some of our friends in the permanent membership of the Security Council like a fiddle," he said on ABC.
Aznar, in a BBC interview aired Sunday morning in London, said: "A further resolution would be politically desirable ... but from a legal point of view it is not indispensable."
Powell reiterated that the United States believes it already has the legal authority it needs for war. "Would I love to have seen others come to the same conclusion we did, that there is a total lack of compliance on the part of Saddam Hussein, that all we're seeing is games? Of course," he said on ABC. "Would I have liked to have seen a second resolution because it would have helped our friends with some of their political difficulties? Yes. Do we need a second resolution? No."
Speaking later on Fox News, Powell expressed skepticism that another meeting with France, Germany and other Security Council members that oppose an invasion would do much good.
"Right now I don't know if there's any purpose to be served by another meeting when the difference is so fundamental," he said.
Meanwhile, Vice President Dick Cheney said on Sunday the United States was "close to the end of the diplomatic efforts" to disarm Iraq and President Bush would be deciding soon on whether to take military action.
In an interview, Cheney told NBC's "Meet the Press" that additional delays would not resolve the stand-off with Saddam Hussein, whom he said has continued to rebuff international demands he give up his alleged weapons of mass destruction.
Cheney was dismissive of a new French willingness to give Iraq an additional 30 or 60 days to disarm or face attack.
"It's difficult for us to believe that 30 days or 60 more days are going to change anything," Cheney said. "We're approaching the point where further delay helps no one but Saddam Hussein."
Cheney added, "There is no question we are close to the end of the diplomatic efforts...." "Clearly the president is going to have to make a very, very difficult and important decision in the next few days." (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
