The impasse between the United States and France over military action in Iraq has deepened in recent days after an effort to reach a compromise stalled, with the French insisting that the Americans must come back to the United Nations Security Council before they can use force, diplomats said today. While the United States and France pressed their positions, diplomats from several Security Council nations said they were still hoping to avoid a damaging, permanent rift over Iraq, and President Bush spoke in conciliatory terms, insisting that the negotiations were still moving forward. "We are working with all the parties to get a resolution done," he said at the White House as he departed for Michigan.
"We haven't written our oldest ally off. Not yet, anyway." |