I’ve been listening to Secretary of State Colin Powell’s presentation to the United Nations Security Council this morning. He is making a persuasive case that a) Iraq does have the kinds of weapons it claims not to have; b) is doing its best to deceive the inspectors; c) is a criminal state; and d) will not change until Saddam Hussein is out of power.
Powell seems to be leaving some tiny wiggle room for Iraq to comply with the Security Council’s resolutions. But it all sounds futile; I think Bush decided a long time ago to invade.
The other members of the council are responding, and it’s pretty obvious that the major powers — Russia and China — are nowhere near ready to see the U.S. go to war over this. (Britain is, and has been for some time.) They want to do more inspections, and they’re clear enough that Iraq hasn’t been living up to what the world has been demanding in the way of cooperation.