A Long, Winding Road to a Diplomatic Dead End


The NY Times has a worthwhile timeline on the diplomatic wrangling, particularly from Powell's perspective, that got us here. Of particular interest are the reminders of his meeting before the signing of 1441:

Dining in September with a group of foreign ministers at the elegant Hotel Pierre in New York, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell was uneasy. France was advocating that a first resolution at the United Nations Security Council, demanding that Iraq promptly disclose its weapons and disarm, must be followed by a second resolution authorizing war if Iraq refused.


"Be sure about one thing," Mr. Powell told Dominique de Villepin, the French foreign minister. "Don't vote for the first, unless you are prepared to vote for the second."


Mr. de Villepin assented, officials who were there said.[...]

Guess that didn't quite work out the way it was supposed to.


Then remember that sudden shift where Powell went from conciliator to administration hawk seemingly overnight? Powell was pissed:

The French-American alienation reached the breaking point on Jan. 20, when Mr. Powell attended a Security Council session presided over by Mr. de Villepin, ostensibly to discuss terrorism. Afterward, the French foreign minister held a news conference and declared forcefully, "Nothing! Nothing!" justified war. American officials did not hear about the news conference until the next day.


"We looked at each other and said, `What the hell is going on here?' " said an aide to Mr. Powell. "I think it all started to come apart after that moment."