Russia discusses veto of U.N. resolution
Bush on Saddam: 'He can't stand America'
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The USS Iwo Jima, an amphibious assault ship, prepares for deployment Tuesday from the Norfolk Naval Base in Virginia.
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| PERSPECTIVE |
An excerpt from Washington Post columnist David Ignatius' "Translating for the French":
"Rush Limbaugh, the conservative radio commentator, said recently that no one should trust a country with a foreign minister named Dominique de Villepin. ...
"De Villepin is one of those modern Supermen who can get by on four or five hours of sleep a night, write books several hours a day, maintain an impressive private collection of African and Asian art, and run marathons -- in addition to directing French foreign policy. He describes his many passions in the words of a Portuguese poet, as le devoir d'inquietude, or the work of uneasiness.
"Washington needs the world more than it may realize, de Villepin argues. 'America can't do it alone,' he contends. 'If America could all alone solve terrorism, stop proliferation, make peace in the Mideast, solve the problem of AIDS, then I'll sign on the bottom line.' ...
"What's disturbing is that America may soon part company with some of its friends -- to pursue goals that are not yet well enough defined to convince most of the world that America is right. How odd that France, the perpetual malcontent, may soon speak for the majority."
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VIDEO
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CNN's Ryan Chilcote reports on the journey of 101st Airborne Division soldiers from Kentucky to their final destination in Kuwait. (March 4)
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| ON THE AGENDA |
Tuesday:
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov meets with British Home Secretary Jack Straw.
The U.N. Security Council meets to set its schedule for the remainder of March. (Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei address the council Friday.)
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(CNN) -- With events moving closer to a possible war with Iraq, here is a look at some of the latest developments around the world:
ROAD TO WAR?
• WOULD U.S. DROP RESOLUTION? The Bush administration has not ruled out abandoning plans for a vote on a second U.N. resolution on Iraq if it's clear that defeat is imminent, senior administration officials said Tuesday. Despite intensive lobbying, the United States has not secured the nine Security Council votes, with no vetoes from France, China or Russia, that it needs for the resolution to pass. Officials said the United States plans to seek a vote on the resolution next week after top weapons inspectors Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei report Friday on Iraqi disarmament. (Full story)
• REITERATING VETO POSSIBILITY: Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said Tuesday that Moscow would not support any measure leading to a war with Iraq and might be prepared to use its veto power in the U.N. Security Council. "If this is necessary, Moscow can resort to using this right," Ivanov said, according to a translated version of an answer during a BBC World Service question-and-answer session in London, England. "Russia would not support any decision that would directly or indirectly lead to a war with Iraq," he said. (Full story)
• PATRIOTS IN ISRAEL: U.S.-supplied Patriot anti-missile systems are being deployed this week throughout Israel to guard against possible Scud missile attacks by Iraq. Israeli officials stressed that they don't believe the deployment indicates a U.S.-led war against nearby Iraq is imminent. Instead, they said, it is part of the country's preparations to protect its people. Deployment was expected to be completed by Wednesday, sources said. The U.S. Patriots were being deployed in the Tel Aviv area, while German and Israeli Patriots were set up elsewhere. (Full story)
• MORE DEPLOYMENTS: Another 60,000 U.S. troops -- including all 17,000 soldiers of the U.S. Army's 1st Cavalry Division -- received orders to deploy to the Persian Gulf region, military officials said. The newly deployed troops would bring the number of forces in the Central Command region to about 310,000. The United States has more than 250,000 troops deployed, of which about 215,000 are in the immediate gulf region. The troops who received the latest deployment orders were described as "follow-on forces," not part of the main invasion force that would take part in any war with Iraq. (Full story)
WAR OF WORDS
• Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, apparently referring to President Bush in an Islamic New Year address to his nation, is quoted by Reuters as saying: "What does the despot of this century want? What is the right path to defeat him? The despot imagines that he is like God, capable of controlling the universe and doing whatever he wishes, but the devil has pushed him into the abyss of blasphemy. The tyrant thinks that he is capable of enslaving people and besieging their freedom, their decisions and their legitimate choices." (Full story)
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• President Bush, repeating Tuesday his promise that Saddam Hussein will be disarmed, told a meeting of the American Medical Association: "Oceans can no longer protect us from those who hate America and what we stand for. ... We're dealing with Iraq because the dictator of Iraq has got weapons of mass destruction and he's used weapons of mass destruction on his own people. He can't stand America. He can't stand our friends. He can't stand our allies. He's got connections to terrorist networks."
• "We know the price of blood; we guess the disastrous consequences, the ravages of a new war in a region already bruised and so fragile," French President Jacques Chirac told members of the Algerian parliament. "The Middle East today does not need a new conflict which would have numerous consequences." (Full story)
IMPACT
• Americans should be prepared for U.S. casualties if the military is ordered into Iraq, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Richard Myers said Tuesday when top Pentagon officials were interviewed on WMAL radio in the Washington area. "War is a very dangerous and ugly thing, and there will be casualties," Myers said. "I don't think anybody should have the opinion that this is going to be antiseptic, that it will be just like Desert Storm was or just like the Kosovo air campaign. It could be different than that, and we've got to make ourselves ready."
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• French consumer morale plunged to its lowest level in nearly six years in February, as a rash of layoffs and mounting concern over Iraq unsettled shoppers in the euro zone's second-largest economy. Perceptions about future employment prospects in the survey deteriorated to their worst level in nearly a decade, a move that economists warn could damage already fragile consumer spending. The national statistics office INSEE said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index fell to minus 26 from minus 22 in January, its lowest level since the minus 31 recorded in May 1997. The survey is based on telephone calls to 2,000 households. (Full story)
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Associated Press contributed to this report.
