Bush speech falls short of diplomatic coup de grace
United Nations Ñ President George W. Bush issued a compellingly clear challenge to the world community warning the UN that Saddam HusseinÕs regime poses a grave and gathering danger to international peace. Yet, reactions from the 190 member General Assembly audience for the most part seemed skeptical and reserved concerning a message they appeared not to want to hear Ñ that despite a decade of defiance of the Security Council resolutions, SaddamÕs Iraq possessed a potent arsenal of weapons of mass destruction.
Bush cited a virtual indictment of Saddam, putting the political ball squarely in the court of the Security Council stating that the conduct of the Iraqi regime is a threat to the authority of the UN itself. Absolutely, but what to do?
Warning that the United Nations faces a difficult and defining moment,
President Bush called on assembled delegates to press the Iraqi regime to come
clean on its hidden weapons of mass destruction. Listing a long lawyerly-like litany of broken UN Security Council resolutions which Iraq had disregarded, Bush told delegates that the security danger from Baghdad included biological, chemical, and an impending nuclear capability. By hiding such arms, he stated, ÒSaddam has made the case against himself.Ó
The President seemed to fall short of delivering the diplomatic coup de grace on the Iraqi regime nor did he produce any smoking gun connecting Saddam with Al-QaidaÕs grotesque terrorist carnage of September 11, 2001. While originally billed as throwing down the gauntlet the President appeared to give the UN one last chance to take Saddam seriously Ñ or else.
Naturally the President is not speaking to the choir but to the oft apostates; those who donÕt view Saddam with any real sympathy but who quite frankly donÕt see his threat as significant either.
While President Bush asserted that ÒItÕs been almost four years since the last UN inspectors set o foot in Iraq, four years for the Iraqi regime to plan, build and test behind the cloak of secrecy.Ó
While admitting SaddamÕs clear and present danger, the Bush Administration must produce some smoke and mirrors of its own Ñ focused political warfare which will pave the way for diplomatic support for an impending military action.
The President lamented, ÒWeÕve tried sanctions. WeÕve tried and carrot of oil for food, and the stick of coalition military strikes, But Saddam Hussein has defied all these efforts and continues to develop weapons of mass destruction.Ó
Intense diplomatic discussions now seem set to pave the way for Security Council actions which would get international arms inspectors back into Iraq. HereÕs a brief road map to Baghdad, which would gather allies along the way.
First) Re-establish the necessary diplomatic framework calling for a return of the weapons inspectors back into Iraq Ñ without pre-conditions. The clear legal mandate is there and the arms inspectors are necessary eyes and ears on the ground.
Second) Knowing full well that Saddam will revert to his classic shell game and play the inspectors like a fiddle, still better to have this set piece charade than go it alone. In other words with the inspectors back, Baghdad will certainly stall and bully but this shall then provide the necessary diplomatic fig-leaf for many countries to then say, ÒWell, we tried one last time.Ó
Third) When Saddam boots the inspectors out or provokes a likely showdown, Washington then can genuinely have a causus belli and build diplomatic momentum for what appears to loom as Gulf War II.
John J. Metzler is a U.N. correspondent covering diplomatic and defense
issues. He writes weekly for World Tribune.com.
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