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France demands Iraqi oil rights to drop veto

Sunday Herald (Scotland)
Tony Blair and George Bush have privately agreed a joint strategy that will delay any possible war against Iraq for four weeks during which time they will work tirelessly to achieve three key objectives:

Firstly, they seek to persuade France, one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, not to carry out its threatened veto of a second UN resolution to allow the US to intervene in Iraq. The French, along with Russia and China, also permanent members of the UN but not expected to vote, have extensive oil rights in Iraq and want those guaranteed before agreeing to any UN resolution.
Secondly, to ensure that all military personnel and hardware is in place for a likely attack at the start of March.
Finally, to utilise every possible moment to win the hearts and minds of the American and British public and persuade them that war is justified in order to disarm Saddam Hussein.

In what will be a crucial five days for the two leaders, culminating in their meeting at Camp David on Friday, the Prime Minister and the US president agreed during a lengthy telephone conversations last week that the 'United Nations route', however difficult, remained their political preference.
They're probably thinking that because they don't want to let the UN die yet. It provides a place for all the obstructionists in the world to gather and pass gas, but doesn't have any real power except for that of public opinion, which can't be discounted. It's a show organization, that impresses the Third World rubes, but it hasn't yet lost enough prestige for the Euros to treat it with open contempt. Until its last vestige of prestige is gone, the U.S. and Britain hesitate to dispose of it because they don't want to hear the whining from the countries who maybe aren't a part of the obstructionist bloc, but still look at the facade, rather than at the reality.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2003-01-27

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