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THE United States will have access to 21 countries in any war against Iraq, while 20 countries are committed to allowing overflights, US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage has said.
He told the Senate Foreign Relations panel the US would have "full access to 21 countries" and additional countries were "under discussion".
"Twenty countries are fully committed, and three partially committed to overflights," he added.
He declined to give any further details of the level of international co-operation the United States would have if it decided to use military force to disarm Iraq.
But, with the US troop build-up in the Gulf reaching critical mass, Armitage underlined the administration's view that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein did not have much time left to disarm peacefully.
"He's got to make that choice in a hurry," he said.
Secretary of State Colin Powell is to present new evidence against Baghdad to the UN Security Council on February 5.
The US ambassador to the UN, John Negroponte, said Washington would be "taking the temperature" of its council colleagues after Powell's speech.
"I think we're going to enter a dynamic stage of diplomacy," he said.
Armitage told the lawmakers that Powell would be giving the world details on Iraq's dealings with weapons of mass destruction and terrorist groups, information on terrorist groups operating in Iraq, and intelligence on mobile biological and chemical weapons labs.
"This is one of the things Secretary Powell is working feverishly on to get a level of declassification.
"What Secretary Powell is going to attempt to do ... is to try to fill in the blanks."
Armitage added that while the United States did not feel it was necessary to seek a second UN resolution on military action, "it would be desirable".
http://www.dailytelegraph.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,5915764%5E1702,00.html
He told the Senate Foreign Relations panel the US would have "full access to 21 countries" and additional countries were "under discussion".
"Twenty countries are fully committed, and three partially committed to overflights," he added.
He declined to give any further details of the level of international co-operation the United States would have if it decided to use military force to disarm Iraq.
But, with the US troop build-up in the Gulf reaching critical mass, Armitage underlined the administration's view that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein did not have much time left to disarm peacefully.
"He's got to make that choice in a hurry," he said.
Secretary of State Colin Powell is to present new evidence against Baghdad to the UN Security Council on February 5.
The US ambassador to the UN, John Negroponte, said Washington would be "taking the temperature" of its council colleagues after Powell's speech.
"I think we're going to enter a dynamic stage of diplomacy," he said.
Armitage told the lawmakers that Powell would be giving the world details on Iraq's dealings with weapons of mass destruction and terrorist groups, information on terrorist groups operating in Iraq, and intelligence on mobile biological and chemical weapons labs.
"This is one of the things Secretary Powell is working feverishly on to get a level of declassification.
"What Secretary Powell is going to attempt to do ... is to try to fill in the blanks."
Armitage added that while the United States did not feel it was necessary to seek a second UN resolution on military action, "it would be desirable".
http://www.dailytelegraph.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,5915764%5E1702,00.html
