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UN Passes Two-Step Resolution

The United Nations Security Council unanimously approved Resolution 1441 compelling Iraq to submit to UNMOVIC weapons inspections. Iraq is given seven days to agree to the resolution. The French and Russian proponents of the two-step process, as well as the one-step US delegation, claimed victory. The wording of the resolution was negotiated over two months, and each side was able to derive what they liked from the resulting language. Most significantly, the United States was able to retain the "material breach" language it wanted. The New York Times was good enough to provide the subsequent remarks from United States Ambassador John Negroponte.

The New York Times characterized the unanimous vote as an "unexpected triumph," which is surprising since it is the French and Russians who proposed the resolution's structure.