Fed: Hill says decision on war weeks away
CANBERRA, Feb 16 AAP - Defence Minister Robert Hill said today a decision on war withIraq was only weeks away.
Asked how long it might be before the United Nations or the United States took actionto force Iraq to disarm, Senator Hill said: "I think it is weeks rather than months.
"How many weeks I'm not too sure," Senator Hill told the Ten Network.
"Obviously the United States will be considering its position post- ... not so muchthe second Blix report because I don't think there was much new in that ... but ratherthe reaction of other Security Council states.
"The US will be considering its position in that light."
He said the US's preference was to get the support of the UN Security Council to enforceits resolution against Iraq.
"But I don't sense they are going to wait a lot longer," Senator Hill said.
He said the current UN resolution for Iraq to comply with UN weapons inspectors wasa line in the sand.
"It was the last chance and again if the Security Council now says well it wasn't actuallythe last chance ... my concern is we get back to where we've been for the last 12 years,"
Senator Hill said.
"Every time its close to the brink he's (Iraqi President Saddam Hussein) offered something.
"When the security council has refocused on other issues he's then made it difficultfor inspectors and in effect thrown them out."
The defence minister said he would find it disturbing if the UN Security Council didnot pass a second resolution in relation to Iraq because it was a message to other dictatorsthat the UN did not enforce its resolutions.
"We would find that disturbing in the sense we depend upon the Security Council interms of the collective response of the global community to these security threats," hesaid.
"That's why it was set up and 12 years ago it said he must disarm and basically ithasn't enforced its resolutions.
"So we get to the situation where it is now some 16 or 17 resolutions he's in breach of.
"What does that say to him and what does it say to others of his type if the SecurityCouncil as a method of collective security is simply not going to work?"
AAP sm/was
KEYWORD: IRAQ HILL TIMING
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