Chapter 21 Summary and Analysis

Powell sees a fork in the road of either a new U.N. resolution and renewed inspections or war. NSC colleagues want to broaden the scope of the indictment, but only WMD has "legs." They can also point to Saddam's record of ignoring the U.N. Cheney and Rumsfeld lobby for a single resolution that will tighten demands and stipulate a "material breach," triggering a 1991-style war. Powell presents this "maximalist" approach to the Security Council, where opposition is unanimous, and then a softened version that makes violations trigger vague "reconsideration" rather than war. France, Russian, and China have commercial ties with Iraq and are on record opposing the U.S. removing Saddam. Cheney is sure demanding Saddam submit full WMD accounting within 30 days will show he has been lying for 12 years. The French accept the demand but insist on a...