Time changes, threats don’t

On a chilly November day, the UN Security Council gathered with full pomp and solemnity to read Saddam Hussein the riot act. It offered the ...

On a chilly November day, the UN Security Council gathered with full pomp and solemnity to read Saddam Hussein the riot act. It offered the Iraqi president ‘‘one last sincere chance to give common sense a chance to work, or, if you will, for the instinct of self-preservation to come into play,’’ a diplomat said. The diplomat stood outside the Security Council chamber in front of a huge Picasso tapestry depicting the horrors of war and warned that this was no time for Saddam to try to save face.

The date was November 29, 1990. The diplomat was Eduard Shevardnadze, the last Soviet foreign minister. The resolution gave Iraq until January 15, 1991, to pull its troops out of Kuwait, or face war. Twelve years, one war and 16 Security Council resolutions later, reminders of that day echoed through the proceedings Friday, when by a unanimous vote the Security Council gave Iraq ‘‘a final opportunity’’ to comply with UN demands or face unspecified ‘‘serious consequences.’’ Mindful of the past, ambassador after ambassador walked out into the hall on Friday, where Picasso’s Guernica still hangs, and delivered well-scripted talking points.

World geopolitics has changed dramatically. In 1990, the resolution explicitly authorised the use of military force for only the second time in the UN’s history, the first being the start of the Korean War. The vote was 12-2 and the Soviet Union, in the flowering of its fatal reform period, joined the United States. Cuba and Yemen, the only Arab nation then on the council, voted against it. China abstained.

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The Friday’s vote was a unanimous 15-0. The hardest sells were Syria, Russia, China, Mexico and France, all of whom wanted to ensure that the UN resolution was not used as a pretext to strike Iraq. Deputy Chinese Ambassador Zhang Yishan asserted that China demanded the insertion of language respecting Iraqi sovereignty. It also called on the UN to lift sanctions against Iraq if Saddam complies.

Friday’s resolution is significantly weaker than the 1990 document, which took just 10 paragraphs to authorise ‘‘all necessary means’’ to force Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait. Friday’s document runs 10 pages of intricately worded legalese and spells out a two-step approach that would require the Security Council to convene again to discuss how to handle any Iraqi defiance.

Following Friday’s vote, several ambassadors made clear that they expect the US to obtain a separate authorisation from the Security Council for any military action. US officials made equally clear that they do not intend to be hamstrung. President Bush, at a press meet a day earlier, said disarmament would be enforced, by military means if necessary: ‘‘This time we mean it. That’s the difference, I guess.’’ (LATWP)

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