US: Developing conflict with Iraq 'indisputable'

US State Department Deputy Spokesman James Foley said yesterday that it is "indisputable" that another confrontation with Iraq is in its early stages, stressing US support for UNSCOM, but declining to say what measures the US might take in the current dispute.

Foley noted that the US believes that the threat of force helped diplomatic efforts to succeed earlier this year in an escalated standoff, resolved by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. "It is simply wrong to say that force is not a component of our current diplomacy," Foley said.

He reiterated that "for now" the US is keeping the current dispute within the Security Council, and said that Iraq must respect its memorandum of understanding with Annan.

Earlier this month, Iraq suspended cooperation with UNSCOM weapons inspectors when talks broke down between Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz and UNSCOM chief Richard Butler. Aziz wanted UNSCOM to give Iraq a clean bill of health on weapons of mass destruction, but Butler refused.