More nations offer limited support in taking on Iraq

In bilateral talks Tuesday, Bush reassured Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer that the US places "great importance" on preserving Iraq's territorial integrity in the case of war, according to a Turkish official present. Turkey is concerned that an uprising among ethnic Kurds in northern Iraq could cause unrest among Turkey's own Kurdish population.

While stressing that peace should be given a chance, Mr. Sezer said that if the "worst happened," Turkey would decide how best to make "a contribution" to regional stability, according to Tacan Ildem, chief foreign-policy adviser to the Turkish president, who attended the session. Turkey and the US are actively engaged in military consultations and have a "strategic partnership," he said.

US and Turkish officials are also reportedly discussing increased US economic aid for Turkey, which underwent a severe economic downturn in the wake of the 1991 Gulf War. US officials say aid talks are ongoing, and they also argue that Turkey would benefit substantially from an Iraq free from UN sanctions. "From the president's point of view, Turkey will benefit tremendously from an Iraq that is not under sanctions. The fact of the matter is that Turkey and Iraq can and should be large trading partners," presidential spokesman Ari Fleischer told the Monitor.

As Washington works to forge a "coalition of the willing," some senior Bush administration officials are voicing frustration over what has been overly passive UN stance on the Baghdad regime.

Indeed, in an extraordinary comparison this week, Rumsfeld likened the UN's years of inaction on Iraq to the foot-dragging and evasion of the Iraqi leader himself. "The United Nations sat there for years with 16 resolutions being violated," he said. "Just as we've seen a pattern of behavior on the part of Saddam Hussein, we've also seen a pattern of behavior on the part of the United Nations, and only time will tell what it, that is to say, what the membership will conclude."

Rumsfeld also asserted that the latest UN Security Council resolution (1441) on disarming Iraq, like other resolutions, was deliberately designed to be ambiguous in order to win votes, and is therefore open to interpretation by different countries.

Washington, for example, publicly disagreed this week with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan over whether Iraqi groundfire against US and British jets patrolling the southern and northern no-fly zones is a "material breach" of UN resolutions.

Meanwhile, the Bush administration is laying down its own criteria for determining whether Hussein is complying with the resolution. In watching for a "pattern of behavior," Washington suggests that in the absence of a gross violation by Hussein, a series of smaller actions - including the no-fly zone strikes - would be enough to trigger a US campaign.

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