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Powell led struggle for a `yes` from Bush on UN resolution
Washington, Sept 04: The US draft resolution for a multinational force in Iraq under the UN umbrella came after Secretary of State Colin Powell convinced President George W Bush that the Iraq occupation policy devised by Donald Rumsfeld was not working, media reported today.
Washington, Sept 04: The US draft resolution for a multinational force in Iraq under the UN umbrella came after Secretary of State Colin Powell convinced President George W
Bush that the Iraq occupation policy devised by Donald Rumsfeld was not working, media reported today.
While the military brass and the diplomats under Powell
were working their case, events made Defence Secretary
Rumsfeld's strategy seem untenable to many administration
officials. The ongoing violence in Iraq gave new attention to
democratic presidential candidates' claims that Bush was
mishandling the situation there, Washington Post reported.
Concern was furthered by a congressional budget office report that the US Army could not sustained troop strength in Iraq.
Bush's Iraq administrator, L. Paul Bremer, came to Washington with a stark message about his need for resources. And Bush, who is expected to speak to the UN in three weeks, needed a clear policy.
The "spark" for the US decision was a meeting between Powell and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan at the UN on August 21, two days after the car-bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad, during which Annan made it clear that "the best feasible option was a multinational force under US command," a UN diplomat told the daily.
The idea of a US-led multinational coalition with a UN mandate was broached publicly for the first time on August 26 by Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.
"The floating of this idea was not expected by the White House," a senior administration official said. "It is very rare that an idea catches the white house by surprise, then is so quickly adopted."
Bureau Report
Concern was furthered by a congressional budget office report that the US Army could not sustained troop strength in Iraq.
Bush's Iraq administrator, L. Paul Bremer, came to Washington with a stark message about his need for resources. And Bush, who is expected to speak to the UN in three weeks, needed a clear policy.
The "spark" for the US decision was a meeting between Powell and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan at the UN on August 21, two days after the car-bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad, during which Annan made it clear that "the best feasible option was a multinational force under US command," a UN diplomat told the daily.
The idea of a US-led multinational coalition with a UN mandate was broached publicly for the first time on August 26 by Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.
"The floating of this idea was not expected by the White House," a senior administration official said. "It is very rare that an idea catches the white house by surprise, then is so quickly adopted."
Bureau Report