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| UN Approves Resolution Against Iraq | 
 | John Negroponte, the U.S. Ambassador to the UN, speaks after the Security Council unanimously approved the Iraq resolution.
Photo: CBS
| The ball is in Saddam Hussein's court now.
On Friday (November 8), the United Nations Security Council unanimously approved a tough new resolution calling on the Iraqi president to fully disclose his country's chemical, biological, and nuclear weapon-making capabilities. The resolution requires Iraq to grant UN inspectors full access to sites where they suspect weapons of mass destruction are being developed.
And if Hussein fails to comply? Iraq will face "the severest consequences," according to President Bush.
With the resolution passed, it is now up to Saddam Hussein to indicate whether he will accept the UN inspectors back into Iraq and disclose all the country's weapons and weapon-making capabilities. He must make clear his intentions in no more than seven days.
If he does allow the inspectors to return, they will arrive sometime before the end of November. Chief UN inspector Hans Blix estimates it will take his team 45 days to set up. They must report their findings back to the UN no later than 60 days after that.
If Iraq allows inspectors to return but is not entirely cooperative once they arrive, the Security Council could reconvene anytime to begin to discuss the next course of action.
The U.S. has made clear that it considers the current resolution all the legal and political cover it needs to lead a strike on Iraq if the Persian Gulf nation fails to comply with the resolution's demands. American officials say that they would not require specific authorization from the Security Council at some later date before launching attacks.
Speaking immediately after the resolution was approved, U.S. Ambassador to the UN John Negroponte said, "This resolution does not constrain any member state from defending itself."
Apppearing in the Rose Garden of the White House just a few minutes later, President Bush issued an oblique warning to the UN that it would have little patience for further diplomacy if Iraq failed to comply with the resolution. "Iraq's cooperation must be prompt and unconditional," he said. "The world must not lapse into unproductive debates."
France appeared to have a somewhat different interpretation of the requirements of the resolution. French diplomats had insisted that the resolution not specifically condone American military strikes should Iraq fail to comply.
In remarks immediately following the vote, French ambassador to the UN Jean-David Levitte stressed that, "War can be only a last recourse." He also indicated that France, Russia, and China would release a joint statement on the matter later in the day.
Though Saddam Hussein has kept silent throughout the UN deliberations, the initial reaction to the resolution from his spokespeople was not positive. On Friday, Iraqi Trade Minister Mohammad Mehdi Saleh told reporters in Baghdad, "The objective of any draft resolution will not be to verify the situation about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction but to provide some causes for the United States to attack Iraq."
The council's action comes after eight weeks of wrangling over exactly how such a statement should be worded. From the start, the U.S. sought a document that would grant it a free hand to launch military strikes against Iraq if Saddam Hussein failed to come clean quickly. Russia and France favored a two-stage approach, which would require the Security Council to reconvene to determine next steps if Hussein failed to comply. Both sides appeared to be satisfied with final language contained in the resolution.
As permanent members of the Security Council, the U.S., France, and Russia all had the right to veto any resolution that came before the body. In effect, all had to agree not to block the resolution in order for it to have passed. Two other nations, Britain and China, are also permanent members and also enjoy veto power.
A total of 15 nations sit on the United Nations Security Council. Ten seats are filled on a rotating basis by various UN member countries. The other five are held by the five permanent members of the council. A total of nine votes are needed to pass a resolution, provided that none of the permanent members veto it.
The U.S. and its allies sought unanimous support for the Iraq resolution from all 15 nations on the council, but had not expected to gain the support of Syria, Iraq's neighbor. In the end, the Syrians voted for the measure.
By Ethan Zindler
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