After last-minute concessions to France and Russia, the United States cleared the final hurdle in a hard-fought U.N. resolution to disarm Iraq, and the Security Council is expected to adopt it by a near-unanimous vote.
An ebullient President Bush insisted that the core U.S. demands survived the intense two-month diplomacy even though the final version of the resolution is very different from the one he originally championed.
\I'm pleased with the resolution we put down,"" Bush said in a White House news conference. ""Otherwise, we wouldn't have put it down.""
Nonetheless, a flurry of eleventh-hour negotiations Thursday'including U.S. acceptance of a one-word change from ""or"" to ""and"" 'watered down the already limited authority granted by the resolution.
With the change, the final version had the apparent support of 14 of the 15 members of the Security Council. Syria was the only member threatening to vote against the resolution.
All sides claimed victory, including the holdout French and Russians, who said they had curtailed U.S. warmongering and ensured that there will be a second stage of deliberations before going to any war.
But Bush's remarks Thursday illustrated just how far his position on Iraq has evolved over the last two months. Instead of demanding ""regime change"" and an immediate authorization to use force against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, the resolution launches a new inspections program and emphasizes disarmament.
The resolution ""is a tough new resolution,"" Bush said.
