THIS really is the endgame.
President Bush made that clear yesterday when he vowed to work with the U.N. Security Council “in the days ahead” with an emphasis on days – not months, not even weeks, but days.
Over the weekend, Secretary of State Colin Powell said March 7 will be a pivotal date – that’s when the council takes up chief weapons inspector Hans Blix’s next report and Powell said he’ll push for a U.N. Security Council vote soon afterward.
White House press secretary Ari Fleischer hinted the deadline for war is mid-March, saying Bush will press for a fast vote.
Finally Bush’s complicated multifront push for a Coalition of the Willing to go after Saddam – with or without the United Nations – is coming together.
Turkey’s parliament today is expected to vote final approval to let U.S. troops use its bases to launch a northern front against Iraq – they’d go down through Saddam’s hometown of Tikrit to Baghdad while the southern front pushes up from Kuwait.
To set the stage for the endgame, Bush on Thursday will welcome Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai to the White House.
Karzai’s visit was planned weeks ago and the message will be clear – the leader of a Muslim country will tell the world that America rescued his nation from Taliban thugs, reopened schools, freed women and ended a reign of terror.
In other words, the Iraqi people shouldn’t fear U.S. troops but, instead, welcome them as liberators – and if Karzai’s visit encourages Iraqi military conscripts to lay down their arms without a fight, all the better.
Bush’s timetable has slipped a bit because of French-inspired obstructionism at the United Nations and NATO, plus a time lag on negotiations with Turkey.
But there’s still time as long as the order comes by mid-March, said military analyst Dan Goure.
“I think we know we have to go by around March 14th,” said Goure, who served at the Pentagon under Bush’s father in the Gulf War.
“That gives us the rest of March and April and if we need it, May. It doesn’t really get to be so hot that it’s hard going until June. There aren’t a lot of dust storms yet. But we can’t wait much longer. That’s why we’re pushing now.”