Wording of U.N. Iraq mandate debated

Officials: Bush camp divided over how tough text should be

From Andrea Koppel and Elise Labott (CNN Washington Bureau)

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Debate on the text of a new United Nations resolution against Iraq has shifted from U.N. headquarters in New York to Washington, diplomats and senior Bush administration officials said Tuesday.

Officials said the reason is a lack of consensus within the Bush administration as to how tough the new resolution should be.

Secretary of State Colin Powell has lobbied for a resolution that would demand the return of U.N. weapons inspectors to Iraq and threaten "consequences" if Iraq does not comply but would stop short of explicitly calling for "regime change," said one senior State Department official.

Powell's philosophy is that the United States has to "give a little to get a little," the official explained. Powell believes it's necessary to "show a little leg" at the United Nations to win the needed votes within the Security Council, he said.

But State Department officials and diplomatic sources said that others in the Bush Cabinet want to "set up circumstances" -- beyond demanding Iraq disarm and allow weapons inspectors "unfettered access" -- that would ensure a regime change in Iraq.

Possible provisions of such a resolution would call on Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to:

These demands were laid out in President Bush's September 12 address before the U.N. General Assembly.

In that speech Bush cataloged a long list of Iraq's violations and made specific demands of the country.

The Bush administration's point person for the resolution is Deputy National Security Adviser Steven Hadley, who is "working feverishly" on new language, officials said.

Diplomat: 'It's up to the U.S. now'

British diplomats dismiss any suggestion they are at odds with the United States over the contents of the resolution.

One diplomat blamed the delay on "slight differences in debate within the U.S. inter-agency process."

"For our side we've done all we can do -- it's up to the U.S. now," this diplomat added.

The Bush administration would like to have a resolution ready to introduce either Wednesday or Thursday, according to diplomatic sources and administration officials.

No decision has been made on whether the United States alone or jointly with Britain will introduce the resolution.

A plan to present an Iraq mandate Tuesday was pushed back, officials said, because of the unexpected need to focus on another resolution to defuse the latest crisis in the Israeli-Palestinian situation.

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