State Department official says Iraq resolution imminent

HERSHEY, Pa.- The United States will deliver a draft resolution to the United Nations by this Wednesday or Thursday authorizing military action on Iraq, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said in a speech here Sunday night. "People will see what we stand for" when the resolution is delivered, Armitage said. "I recognize that no one in this room wants to go to war," Armitage said, but added that he fears more what would happen "if we don't act decisively to protect our people. … Every day we wait in the decade-long delay to disarm Iraq is a day closer to catastrophe." Armitage made his remarks at the Industry Advisory Council's annual Executive Leadership Conference. The council is made up of hundreds of executives from IT companies that do business with the government. Armitage said that if the U.N. fails to support the American effort to disarm the government of Iraq, the United States will move forward on its own. But he added that success in the overall battle against terrorism requires the help of other nations. "We cannot effectively fight this war on terrorism without multilateral cooperation," Armitage said. He praised officials of Jordan's government for their work investigating the murder of U.S. diplomat Laurence Foley in Amman, Jordan, last week. Armitage said "members of an obscure terror group, possibly with links to al Qaeda," were responsible for Foley's murder.

Armitage said that consular officers in diplomatic posts around the world were America's "first line of offense" in the fights against terrorism. The United States issues 8 million visas to foreign nationals every year, he said. A brief interview with a consular officer is often the only interaction those people have with U.S. officials, who will continue to face challenges trying to discern from those brief encounters who is a threat, Armitage said.

"People don't come in wearing a sign that says, 'Kick me. I'm a terrorist,'" he said.