Forum Overview :: Operation: Hammer Time :: France

[quote name="Bob Violence"]From what I've seen (Bush's speech, Fleischer's conferences, Powell's remarks), the Administration isn't actually saying the U.S./UK resolution (the only version the U.S. ever considered) had the support of the majority of Security Council members. One of the first things out of Negroponte's mouth on Monday was that he believed the vote would've been "close," which is pretty much a weasel word for "lost." The French veto threat wasn't the reason the Administration went back on its promise and didn't bring the resolution up for a vote -- it was the fact that the resolution <i>wouldn't have passed in the first place</i>. If they did have the support of the majority they would have either brought it up for a vote and called the French on their threat, or they would be endlessly hammering away at that claim now, since it would make the French look like even bigger assholes. But they didn't do that and they aren't doing that, because the other SC members would probably call them on it within a matter of hours. To sum up, my point is that to blame the French for fucking up any chance at multilateral action is a bit wrongheaded when there are at least 7 other countries on the Council that opposed the resolution.[/quote]