UN backing for a US-led attack on Iraq would be useful but is not necessary, President George W. Bush said, while his ally Britain stalled for time yesterday with calls for the Americans to give diplomacy three more weeks before going to war.
Meanwhile, NATO finally endorsed defense plans for Turkey in the event of an attack while the Americans put pressure on Ankara to reply over the deployment of troops on Turkish soil as NATO chief George Robertson headed to Washington for high-level talks on the crisis.
"War is my last choice, but the risk of doing nothing is even a worse option," Bush said on Tuesday.
"A second resolution would be useful," he said, but added: "It's not necessary, as far as I'm concerned."
But British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw were said to be suggesting that a crunch meeting of the UN could take place on March 14.
Newspaper reports in London said both were arguing that the delay could provide enough time to convince France and other doubters that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has failed to cooperate with UN inspectors, and that a new UN resolution paving the way to war should be approved.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell accused countries pushing for longer weapons inspections in Iraq of being "afraid" to take responsibility for a possible conflict.
NATO formally approved the deployment of defensive measures for Turkey in the event of war after being paralyzed for weeks by one of the worst splits in its history after France, Germany and Belgium refused to vote in favor.
"Alliance solidarity has prevailed," said a statement by the US ambassador to NATO, Nicholas Burns, after the decision which cleared the way for NATO to field AWACS aircraft, Patriot missile systems and chemical-biological response units for the defense of Turkey.
However the US ambassador to that country, Robert Pearson, said in Ankara that his country needed an urgent answer on deploying troops in Turkey for a possible Iraq war.
"Time is of critical importance for us," Pearson said after Turkey insisted on billions of dollars of US compensation to cover Ankara's costs due to war in neighboring Iraq.
Powell, speaking on the French radio station France Inter, said: "It cannot be a satisfactory solution for the inspections just to continue forever because certain nations are afraid of stepping up to the responsibility of imposing the will of the international community."
In Berlin, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder also said there was no need for a further UN resolution, believing there was "no reason" for war.
Speaking on German television, Schroeder said: "Right now we have to make every possible effort to resolve this conflict peacefully."
At the UN, Iraq urged the Security Council to heed the voice of millions of anti-war protesters worldwide and reject US demands to disarm it by force.
Authorizing a military attack would be "a failure of the international system as a whole" and "undermine the credibility of the Security Council," Iraqi UN ambassador Mohammed al-Douri told a council meeting which was opened to non-members.
The most powerful critique of US policy came from Iranian ambassador Javad Zarif, who warned the council that "extremism stands to gain enormously from an uncalculated adventure in Iraq."
It would be "an admission of failure by the council" to authorize war before the inspection process was exhausted, said South African ambassador Dumisani Kumalo, who requested the meeting.
Meanwhile, NATO Secretary General George Robertson was set to visit Washington yesterday for high-level talks on the Iraq crisis as the alliance was set to approve plans to aid member Turkey in the event of war, a NATO official said.
Robertson is expected to see Bush and Powell just three days after alliance members compromised on measures to defend Turkey in preparation for a possible war in Iraq.
Already planning Iraq's postwar future, the White House said the country's oil wealth would go a long way toward reconstruction efforts following any military action to oust Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) is set to issue sea and land warnings for Tropical Storm Krathon as projections showed that the tropical storm could strengthen into a typhoon as it approaches Taiwan proper, the CWA said yesterday. The sea warning is scheduled to take effect this morning and the land warning this evening, it said. The storm formed yesterday morning and in the evening reached a point 620 nautical miles (1,148km) southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, moving west-southwest at 4 kph as it strengthened, the CWA said. Its radius measured between 220km and 250km, it added. Krathon is projected
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