Can someone tell me what's going on with the whole Iraq deal? Seeing how Japanese news is wrapped up in the whole North Korean "Return those Japanese people you kidnapped" issue, I'm not getting a whole lot of information. I read this article from the New York Times. After reading the article, I couldn't help but wonder, "What did the United Nations get out of this 'compromise'?" For those of you who don't know what's going at all... here's a quote from Secretary of State Powell describing how the United States recognized French and UN demands on the issue:
"[The UN Security council has] now the opportunity to decide or not to decide [if military action is needed if Iraq fails to comply], to pass a second resolution or offer a second resolution or not, and [the United States] will be part of that debate."
But then, there's this quote:
"The United States would reserve the right to lead a military action against Iraq if Iraq continued to block inspections, even if the Security Council did not give its approval."
After reading this, I'm thinking, "So, lemme get this straight... there are two courses of action if Iraq doesn't comply with the UN inspections. The first is that the Security Council approves military action and the US along with UN forces attack Iraq. The second is that the Security Council denies military action, but the US goes ahead and attacks Iraq anyway." Am I missing something here? What's the purpose of the debate within the Security Council if the decision it makes bears no weight? I always thought the whole thrust of the debate for this supposed "compromise" from the French side was to make sure that the United States would comply to a United Nations Security Council decision.
I can see only three possibilities as to how this happened. A) The United States diplomats to the UN are incredibly smart and persuasive. B) The UN people are incredibly stupid, naive, and forgot the entire purpose of the talks with the US. C) The United States once again strongarmed the United Nations. By my wording, I'm sure you all know what i think.