Sources: Missile ships await orders; White House willing to talk more
Powell: U.S. has option of walking away from Security Council
 |
British Royal Marines carry colleagues while training on the deck of the helicopter carrier HMS Ocean in the Persian Gulf.
Story Tools
| PERSPECTIVE |
TIME.com's Tony Karon writes about the international debate in an article titled "Why Bush Struggles To Win U.N. Backing": "One reason the Bush administration can't get U.N. backing for war is that the return of arms inspectors to Iraq has weakened rather than strengthened international support for its position. "That's because while the inspectors confirm that Iraq has not complied with disarmament resolutions, their investigations have also knocked the wind out of Washington's claims that Iraq has active, menacing chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs. Most U.N. member-states see a war as permissible only if the threat from Iraq is greater than the dangers attached to going to war -- and the inspectors' findings haven't shown that. "The current sense of urgency in London and Washington is generated by the fact that they have an army ready to go and hot weather on the way, rather than any imminent danger posed by Iraq. For most UN member states, that's no reason to start a war." TIME.com
|
VIDEO
|
CNN's Martin Savidge, traveling with U.S. Marines in Kuwait, encounters a powerful sandstorm with the troops. (March 13)
|
| ON THE AGENDA |
Thursday
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell meets with House Appropriations Committee.
U.N. Security Council to convene at 3 p.m. EST.
Sources tell CNN that U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is likely to sign orders sending missile ships into Red Sea.
|
|
(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?
• PENTAGON: IRAQI BUILDUP: The Iraqi government has enhanced is military capability with artillery and troops in the southern part of Iraq over the past week, a senior U.S. military official in the region said Thursday. The official said intelligence reports also indicate that at least one specific type of artillery has the capacity to launch chemical weapons into Kuwait. There are approximately 125,000 U.S. soldiers in Kuwait, many in the northern desert that could be within target range of such weapons.
• FINAL U.S. PREPARATIONS? Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld may sign orders authorizing the movement of about a dozen missile-shooting Navy warships from the Mediterranean into the Red Sea, a final preparatory movement before a war with Iraq could begin, US military sources Thursday told CNN. The order could be signed as soon as late Thursday, sources say. The ships would then begin rapidly moving through the Suez Canal and into the Red Sea. The ships, which include cruisers, destroyers and submarines, all fire satellite-guided Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles or TLAMS, precision weapons with a range of approximately 1,000 miles. (Full story)
• INSPECTORS: VX, ANTHRAX REPORT: U.N. weapons inspectors said Thursday that they expected Iraq to deliver reports on VX and anthrax this week, a move that could satisfy a key condition of a British disarmament plan under discussion in the U.N. Security Council. "They said they were working on it one week ago, and the implication was some time this week," said Ewen Buchanan, a spokesman for the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission. "Clearly we hope the information will be new and would also lead to the resolution of some outstanding issues." (Full story)
• THE DIPLOMATIC DILEMMA: The White House said Thursday that it is willing to extend its diplomatic efforts to secure U.N. support for a possible war with Iraq, but U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said dropping plans for a U.N. Security Council vote on a new resolution also is an option. U.S. officials continue to study a British proposal to set a date by which Iraq would have to meet six conditions to avoid war. British officials say French intransigence will make military action by the United States more likely. (Full story, U.K. presses for Iraq deal)
WAR OF WORDS
• British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Thursday that the U.K. was prepared to drop its demand that Iraqi President Saddam appear on television if it helped secure a second United Nations resolution. "If the only issue between us, our partners on the Security Council and Saddam Hussein is whether or not he makes a TV broadcast, then we'd happily drop that," Jack Straw told reporters.
• Australian Prime Minister John Howard, a staunch supporter of the U.S. and U.K. position on Iraq, outlined Australia's reasons for supporting military action against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein with or without the sanction of the United Nations Security Council. "Australian intelligence agencies, including ONA (Office of National Assessments), judge that al Qaeda has demonstrated the intention to acquire or develop chemical or biological weapons and an interest in radiological and nuclear weapons," Howard said. (Full story)
|
|
• "The options remain: Go for a vote and see what (Security Council) members say, or not go for a vote," U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told the House Foreign Operations Subcommittee. "But all the options that you can imagine are before us, and we'll be examining them today, tomorrow and into the weekend. ... We are working hard to see if we can take this to a vote that would be a vote that would help unify the council. But we haven't excluded any of the obvious options that are out there." (Full story)
IMPACT
• Coalition aircraft enforcing the northern no-fly zone in Iraq Thursday dumped 240,000 informational leaflets near Iraqi anti-aircraft artillery batteries for the second time this week, according to the U.S. European Command. Two locations were targeted -- south of Tall Afar and southwest of Saddam Lake. Iraqi anti-aircraft artillery in those locations have fired on coalition jets in the past, the command said. The message on the leaflet front warns soldiers, "Before you engage coalition aircraft, think about the consequences." The back reads, "Think about your family. Do what you must to survive."
|
|
• The U.S. Defense Department has announced that it's seeking companies that might be able to assist in rebuilding Iraqi oil wells and infrastructure after the possible war with Iraq. The Pentagon issued a statement saying it would like to hear from companies "interested in providing specialized services related to firefighting or assessing damage to oil facilities in the event of military action in Iraq." The statement offers a "DOD contractor hotline for support of potential operations to control and mitigate damage to Iraq's oil facilities."
Copyright 2003 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
