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Source: U.S. mulls Iraq 'Plan B'

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The State Department has quietly begun to draft language for an alternative to its proposed U.N. resolution on Iraq, even as the Bush administration pursues its aggressive campaign for the tougher version, CNN has learned.

Meanwhile, U.N. and Iraqi negotiators meeting in Austria announced Tuesday that Iraq has agreed to allow the return of U.N. weapons inspectors and that an advance team is due in Baghdad in about two weeks. (Full story)

The U.S. alternative draft proposal, which could face a tough battle in the Bush Cabinet, would take the form of two separate resolutions, sources said.

"We are working with the UK [United Kingdom] on what a second resolution would look like," said one State Department official. "We are making pretty good headway."

What amounts to a "Plan B" approach would involve eliminating the section calling for a "threat of force" in the existing U.S.-British draft resolution now circulating among Security Council members. Dropping this language would be a big concession to the French government.

A second U.N. resolution would retain wording threatening "consequences."

Under this two-step approach, the initial resolution would find Iraq in "material breach" of prior U.N. resolutions and would spell out what Iraq needed to do. This resolution would have a "trigger" mechanism that would call for the second resolution if Iraq did not disarm.

The follow-up resolution would be "precooked" by the United States and Britain, said two State Department officials, leaving no doubt that all five members would then support using "all means necessary" against Iraq to force it to disarm.

In the words of one official, "It is kind of like writing out a check and saving the signature for later."

In an interview on "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" on PBS, Secretary of State Colin Powell hinted a compromise was being seriously considered.

"The debate that is taking place between the U.S. and some of our friends is whether the 'consequences' element is the first resolution or if you have to bring the new violation, ignoring the new inspection regime, back to the Security Council for a new action at that time," Powell said.

U.S. officials insisted they were still pushing for one toughly worded resolution threatening force against Iraq if it does not disarm.

Should the United States and Britain fail to win approval for this resolution, however, a fierce battle would likely ensue within the Bush administration over what steps to take next, one senior State Department official predicted.

Some within the Bush Cabinet, notably Powell, believe the best approach is a multilateral one, involving the support of the United Nations.

Others, such as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, believe that if the United Nations does not approve a strongly worded resolution with the threat of force, the United States will need to take matters into its own hands.

This past weekend Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Marc Grossman traveled to Paris and Moscow for high-level talks surrounding the proposed U.S.-British draft resolution that lays out Saddam Hussein's history of refusing to abide by U.N. resolutions, as well as a demand he completely disarm or face "all means necessary" to force him to do so.

State Department officials were quick to point out the United States was not expecting to wrap up negotiations during the trip. They admitted that France, Russia and China were sticking to their guns and refusing to endorse the U.S.-British proposal.

In fact, a senior State Department official Tuesday acknowledged that the French have "on occasion" threatened to veto a single resolution and said Powell had called the French foreign minister Monday.

But this official also signaled the United States had not lost hope of reaching agreement.

Referring to the Paris government, this source said, "They are being firm, but on the other hand they are talking to us. And we are being firm, but we are still talking to them."

Another State Department official said Grossman's trip had stimulated the discussion of a possible second resolution.

"We are taking what Grossman heard from the French on board," this official said. "The French have made clear they would never support the threat of force in a first resolution."

Asked whether a second resolution authorizing force by "all necessary means" would have to be tacitly agreed to in advance, the source replied, "American officials are willing to compromise as long as a process is clearly in motion."

He added, "One resolution is less important to us than the idea of having an arrangement that gets us to the goal of disarmament and puts us on more solid ground."

But the other, more senior State Department official dismissed the idea that a "Plan B" was in the works.

There are "no serious preparations" for a fallback plan, said this official, who stressed Powell had not signed off on such an approach and added that there was no consensus within the Bush administration to move in that direction.

CNN Correspondent Andrea Koppel and Producer Elise Labott contributed to this story.



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