U.S. President Bush's national security advisers are recommending that he declare Iraq in violation of a United Nations disarmament order, administration officials said, but they do not consider the indictment an immediate trigger for war.
Instead, according to AP, advisers expect Bush to chart a slightly more patient course that would push the prospects for military action into the new year.
bUSH was to hear from his advisers as early as Wednesday on options available to the United States in response to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's contention that he has no weapons of mass destruction.
There has been some discussion inside the administration about immediately declaring Iraq in "material breach" of the resolution, which could provide Bush with what he considers legal justification for going to war.
However, the prospect was not seriously discussed Tuesday in a meeting of Bush's national security memebers, according to two senior administration officials.
According to the reports, advisers are prepared to recommend that Bush allow the weapons inspectors to go ahead with their work while using the declaration's omissions to intensify public pressure on both the United Nations and Iraq, the officials said.
Bush is projected to publicly make his case against the Iraqi declaration on Friday, assuming he signs off on the recommendations, officials said. But the Friday time frame could change, they added.
Meanwhile, the 10 non-permanent Security Council members got their chance to pick up a sanitized version of Iraq's weapons declaration on Tuesday night, less than two days before U.N. inspectors give their preliminary assessment of the 12,000-page document.
The five permanent members — the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France — received the uncensored declaration over a week ago.
On Tuesday evening, the non-permanent members, who are elected for two-year terms, got their censored copies — with all information that could be used to promote the spread of weapons of mass destruction removed.
Some annexes and material in Arabic may be given to the non-permanent members later if the council agrees, spokesman Ewen Buchanan said. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
