By diplomatic standards, the statement was crystal-clear. On March 5th France, Russia and Germany said they would not "allow the passage of a planned resolution that would authorise the use of force" against Iraq. France and Russia are both veto-wielding permanent members of the UN Security Council, so they could certainly make good their threat, although both pointedly refrained from using the word "veto". The trio called on Iraq "to co-operate more actively" with UN weapons inspectors. But America's secretary of state, Colin Powell, argued that time had already run out, and that the world should not be fooled into believing that Iraq's "too-little, too-late gestures" should save it from the "serious consequences" threatened by the Security Council's resolution 1441. That message, delivered two days before the inspectors were due to report to the Security Council on March 7th, was seen as a signal that, so far as America is concerned, the long-threatened shift from diplomacy to warfare is now imminent.
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