<!doctype html public "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN"> <html><head><style type="text/css"></style><title>Humiliating defeat --sob sob</title></head><body> <div>By CHB Staff<br> Mar 3, 2003, 22:22<br> <br> Senior aides to President George W. Bush say he faces a humiliating defeat<br> before the United Nations Security Council next week.<br> <br> Secretary of State Colin Powell, fresh from his latest round of meetings<br> with representatives of countries on the Security Council, delivered the<br> bad news to Bush on Monday.<br> <br> "You will lose, Mr. President," Powell told Bush. "You will lose badly and<br> the United States will be humiliated on the world stage."<br> <br> Some White House advisors are now urging the President to back off his<br> tough stance on war with Iraq and give UN weapons inspectors more time.<br> <br> "We have no other choice," admits one Bush advisor. "We don't have the<br> votes. We don't have the support."<br> <br> Powell told Bush on Monday that Turkey's refusal to allow U.S. troops to<br> stage at the country's border with Iraq doomed any chance of consensus at<br> the UN.<br> <br> "Many were watching Turkey," Powell told Bush. "Had they agreed, it might<br> have helped us sway critical votes."<br> <br> Some Bush aides now admit privately that the President, for all his tough<br> talk, may have to back down and postpone his plans to invade Iraq in the<br> near future.<br> <br> "The vote in Turkey fucked things up big time," grumbles one White House<br> aide. "It pushes our timetable back. On the other hand, it might give us a<br> chance to save face."<br> <br> "Saving face" means backing away from a showdown with the UN Security<br> Council next week and agreeing to let the weapons inspection process run<br> its course.<br> <br> "The arrest of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed gives us some breathing room," says<br> a Bush strategist. "We can concentrate on the favorable publicity<br> generated by the arrest and the valuable intelligence we have gained from<br> that event."<br> <br> Mohammed, arrested in Pakistan, masterminded the 9-11 terrorist attacks.<br> CIA agents found computer files, memos and other materials which pointed<br> to plans for new attacks against the U.S.<br> <br> "The prudent thing to do would be to let Iraq cool off on a back burner<br> and concentrate on Mohammed," says Democratic strategist Arnold Beckins.<br> "Saddam isn't going anywhere. There's too much heat on him right now for<br> him to pull something."</div> <div><br></div> <div>Right now, only the U.S., Britain and Spain favor immediate military</div> <div>action against Iraq. With most of the other allies lining up against the</div> <div>U.S., Bush faces both a diplomatic and public relations nightmare if he<br> proceeds against Hussein without UN backing.<br> <br> "We've always needed an exit strategy," admits one White House aide.<br> "Circumstances have given us one. We shouldn't ignore it."<br> <br> © Copyright 2003 by Capitol Hill Blue<br> <br> <a href="http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_1870.shtml" >http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_1870.shtml</a><br > <font face="Arial" size="-1"></font></div> <div><br></div> <x-sigsep><pre>-- </pre></x-sigsep> <div>Marta Russell<br> Los Angeles, CA<br> http://www.disweb.org</div> </body> </html>