Will the UN Approve Our Invasion?

This article doubts they will. The better question is whether we want them to. It may be better for us to go without UN approval after having gone the extra mile to get the UN Security Council's stamp of approval. Showing up the UN as a useless dictator protection racket that will not be allowed to stand in our way when we decide we must deal with a growing and gathering danger to our security might be the exact thing we need.

After the Blix report on the 27th, President Bush should lay out our case—again—for war with Iraq. This would be a good time to reveal our smoking gun. He should tell the inspectors that we can no longer guarantee their safety and tell them they have 48 hours to leave Iraq. We should introduce a resolution stating that Iraq is in violation of UNSCR 1441 the next day and tell the UNSC that they have until Thursday to vote on it—one way or the other. But let them know that we will invade regardless. Their "approval" is a courtesy that we will grant the Security Council if it wants to preserve the fiction that the body can rein us in when we must defend ourselves. If they will not face the threat of the likes of Saddam, they are useless to world peace and are an actual hindrance to that lofty goal. Then, after consulting with Blair on the 31st and signing off on the last details, we invade the evening (our time) on January 31.

We will get rid of a threat, a tyrant, a rallying point for Islamofascists, and the last credibility of the UN that seeks to tie us up in procedural knots.

I'm not sure which would give me more satisfaction. But as they say, business before pleasure, so let's focus on Saddam for now. An irrelevant UN can wait.

And we should remember those who stood with us and those who walked away in our hour of need. The tears that so many shed for our loss after 9-11 have long dried and have been replaced by shrill insults. I had no use for their tears then, and will shed no tears for them when they find out they will pay a price for their actions.