Patrick Cronin
Patrick Cronin
bit landmark partly sure
This (Bush's pledge) is a landmark bit of phrasing which I am sure was at least partly calculated.
apparent behind breakdown buy council delay diplomacy eager eu europeans forward move obviously past promised refer security states three united votes
The United States has been obviously eager to refer it to New York, to the UN Security Council for the past three years, ... And it's been the EU diplomacy, and the EU-3 diplomacy in particular, that has forestalled that. Here, with the breakdown of an apparent agreement, the Europeans had promised to move forward with a referral. The votes haven't come behind the Europeans and the Americans on this, so they have really no recourse but to delay and buy time.
announce current troop
The current administration is not one to announce large-scale troop reductions.