A US diplomat based in Dublin said yesterday that the question still at issue was whether Saddam Hussein had made a strategic decision to disarm.
The chargée d'affaires at the US embassy, Ms Jane Fort, also said that Ireland had been an extremely constructive member of the Security Council. Ms Fort was asked on RTÉ about the statement by UN weapons inspector, Mr Hans Blix that there had been co-operation from Iraq.
Asked whether this was something that the US did not want to hear, Ms Fort disagreed. She said it wanted to hear updates and if there had been progress.
She had the clear impression that there had been progress but there had not been complete co-operation from Saddam Hussein and any that there had been had been somewhat begrudging, she said. "The question still at issue is whether Saddam Hussein has made a strategic decision to disarm," Ms Fort said.
President Bush had said that diplomatic efforts to disarm Iraq were almost exhausted. Ms Fort said there had to be a deadline. However she did not think that there was a definite deadline for March 17th. That date was only under discussion at this stage.
Many of the countries who disagreed with the US actually agreed that the situation could not go on for months. They had to recognise that the key was for Iraq to co-operate completely.
Ms Fort disagreed that the situation had resulted in a diplomatic shambles. The present situation was the culmination of 12 years of lack of progress and Iraq thwarting demands.
Ms Fort said President Bush had said there had to be finality in the process. The inspections were never meant to be a game of hide and seek and the US would be emphasising that over and over again over the next few days.
"I don't think the US will tackle Saddam Hussein on its own. We would prefer to work within the UN," she said.
Ms Fort said they were all concerned about the consequences of conflict which was all the more reason why they came back to the UN and tried hard to work through the disagreements.
Asked about the calls for more time from other nations, she said she did not think the situation could go on indefinitely. "The US is not isolationist. If we were, we wouldn't have gone to the UN in the first place," Ms Fort stated.
It was important to support the integrity of the system of world order, she added.
The French ambassador to Ireland, Mr Gabriel De Bellescize, also speaking on radio, said France was trying to demonstrate that there had to be caution.