So, why does a second war appear inevitable? The U.N. vote appears fixed. Russia may remain neutral on a new U.N Security Council resolution calling for the use of force to make Iraq comply with existing disarmament resolutions. Russia wants a free hand to use the military against rebels in Chechnya as well as Chechnya rebels operating in Georgia.
China may remain neutral because China wants to remain a World Trade Organization trading partner with the U.S. China also wants a free hand to fight Muslim rebels in far western China. A vaguely worded U.N. resolution will pass allowing Bush to attack. Sadly, Bush may even invade Iraq regardless what the U.N. does.
The fix appears in with Congress, too. Congress will pass, and Bush will sign, a vaguely worded law authorizing the use of force against Iraq. Common sense won't prevail because Bush is pressuring Congress to act in a frenzy, without knowing all the facts about September 11 intelligence failures or about the Administrations long-term plans for Iraq.
Today, without approval from Congress Bush is deploying troops off the shore of Yemen, and is speeding up the pace of landing troops in the Persian Gulf region. Portions of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division already flew to Kuwait. Shiploads of tanks are arriving now. Thus, on a hair-trigger notice, Bush can attack Iraq or any nation in Southwest Asia immediately with 30,000 troops and 400 planes ("U.S. Builds Up Huge Attack Force,” The Guardian, September 13, 2002).
China may remain neutral because China wants to remain a World Trade Organization trading partner with the U.S. China also wants a free hand to fight Muslim rebels in far western China. A vaguely worded U.N. resolution will pass allowing Bush to attack. Sadly, Bush may even invade Iraq regardless what the U.N. does.
The fix appears in with Congress, too. Congress will pass, and Bush will sign, a vaguely worded law authorizing the use of force against Iraq. Common sense won't prevail because Bush is pressuring Congress to act in a frenzy, without knowing all the facts about September 11 intelligence failures or about the Administrations long-term plans for Iraq.
Today, without approval from Congress Bush is deploying troops off the shore of Yemen, and is speeding up the pace of landing troops in the Persian Gulf region. Portions of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division already flew to Kuwait. Shiploads of tanks are arriving now. Thus, on a hair-trigger notice, Bush can attack Iraq or any nation in Southwest Asia immediately with 30,000 troops and 400 planes ("U.S. Builds Up Huge Attack Force,” The Guardian, September 13, 2002).