Diplomacy: His Lonely March

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But for the Bush Administration, that's all beyond the horizon. Aides close to Bush say the President has decided to confront Saddam now, with any partners he can get. Even among the internationalists at the State Department, who have long warned against the dangers of going it alone, support for giving diplomacy and the inspections more time has vanished. "More and more people are saying 'enough already,'" says a U.S. official. "We're the U.S., for chrisakes. We don't plead. We don't beg. You're either with us or not."

Washington insists it has never needed a second resolution explicitly authorizing military action. Resolution 1441, passed in November, promises "serious consequences" if Iraq fails to comply. Bush decided to seek the later resolution last month at the prodding of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who needs at least a semblance of U.N. support to help convince his party and the British public, both of which are hostile to a war without that backing. Since many Americans also prefer to have the U.N.'s approval for a war against Iraq, the quest for nine votes has become a political priority for Bush. And so the President worked the phones all week, making the Administration's case to the leaders of some swing nations, including Pakistan, Mexico, Cameroon and Chile. A senior Administration official says Bush didn't explicitly ask for wavering countries' votes, but he came close. "I hope together we can affirm the willingness of the Security Council to enforce its own resolutions," the aide says, paraphrasing Bush's pitch, "and I need you to do that." Bush focused special attention on Russian President Vladimir Putin; after speaking by phone last Thursday, the two leaders agreed to "continue to communicate." A White House official told TIME that Putin assured Bush he wouldn't cast a veto. "There were rumors that the Russians were going to veto," says the official. "The President had a conversation and got a different impression--not that Putin was with him, but that he's not going to veto."

Until the final votes are cast, though, assurances count for nothing. Inside the hallways of the U.N., the battle for votes was so pitched that some delegates wouldn't talk strategy on phones, for fear they could be tapped. The White House denied that the U.S. offered any incentives to indecisive states, but the members weren't so hesitant. "We're keeping our options open," says a diplomat from one swing country. "It's a tantalizing situation now."

The allies' decision to offer an amendment giving Saddam a clear deadline for compliance was aimed at winning over the undecideds. With the U.S. bringing a second resolution to a vote this week, Saddam would still have until next Monday to comply--a pause sufficient perhaps to allow governments to say they did not vote for the "automatic" use of force. Last week U.S. and British head counters believed the amendment may be enough to sway Mexico and Chile, and they sensed the African countries' moving toward their column.