THE BUTCHERS' BILL :

Bush hits stumbling block over Iraq (BBC, 6 September, 2002)

Russian President Vladimir Putin one of five Security Council members with the power of veto, told US President George Bush that he had "deep doubts" about the justification for a strike, according to statement from the Kremlin press service.

Mr Bush had also telephoned French President Jacques Chirac and Chinese President Jiang Zemin, other leaders with reservations towards a strike.

The United States, Russia, France, China and the UK are the five permanent Security Council member countries. Major decisions by the Security Council, including those concerning Iraq, require the agreement of all of them.

This is, of course, just a bid by the Russians to get us to pay off the $8B that the Iraqis owe them, and we should. But does anyone seriously think that we should let our national security be determined by Communist China (65 million of its own citizens murdered in the 20th Century), Russia (25 million murdered) and France (75,000 French Jews shipped to Nazi Germany for extermination)? Posted by Orrin Judd at September 6, 2002 7:51 PM