U.S, Britain Fight The Odds On Iraq

The U.S. and British governments Tuesday pressed on with their campaign for votes backing a Security Council measure laying the groundwork for war against Iraq. The task appeared more daunting as time went on.

After a vote expected on Tuesday was pushed back, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer insisted the Security Council will act on the resolution this week.

"There is a little more room for a little more diplomacy…not much room and not much time," Fleischer said. "The president thinks it is important to bring things to a conclusion at the United Nations."

Hoping to swing more votes their way, the U.S. and Britain are considering extending the March 17 deadline for Iraq to disarm, which some countries have criticized as too abrupt.

The new timeframe would comprise a brief initial period for Iraq to demonstrate good faith, with a subsequent program of specific disarmament tasks. But the extension would still terminate before the end of March.

Whether the slightly longer time frame for inspections is acceptable to the undecided nations remains to be seen.

Diplomatic sources in Paris tell CBS News Correspondent Elaine Cobbe that the resolution's chances are extremely slim because of a lack of support among six swing-vote Security Council members.

While Angola's position is still unclear, Pakistan has said it will abstain. Diplomats say Guinea and Cameroon will likely abstain as well, while Chile and Mexico could abstain or perhaps vote "no."

In addition to the vote tally, the veto threat remains a risk for the resolution. French diplomats said despite the longer timeline, the resolution would still mean authorizing war, which France is unwilling to do. Russia and France have threatened to veto the measure.

On both sides of the issue, diplomatic efforts continued Tuesday. French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin traveled to Africa to meet with the leaders of Angola, Guinea and Cameroon. For a second day, President Bush cleared his public schedule to concentrate on telephone diplomacy.

Even if a veto ultimately killed the resolution, the White House would consider it a moral victory if it got the nine Security Council votes ordinarily needed for passage. The White House pitch is emphasizing that a "no" vote would be a moral shortcoming for the United Nations, similar to its failures in Kosovo and Rwanda.

The administration is also referring to new evidence, which chief inspector Hans Blix failed to mention in his public statement last week, that Iraq has developed unmanned drones capable of spreading chemical weapons and a new cluster bomb fitted to carry poisonous agents.

Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz told a veterans group that a U.S.-led war to "liberate" Iraq could occur even without U.N. approval.

"Whether those countries join our coalition or not, they should understand — the U.S. has the ultimate responsibility to ensure the peace and security of our country and our people," he said.

Viewing conflict as likely, Iraq warned that any invaders would meet their deaths in the Iraqi capital.

"The tyrants of the evil American administration … will meet their black fate at the high gates of Baghdad, where the courageous people of Iraq will teach them a lesson," the government daily Al-Jumhuriya said in an editorial Tuesday.

On Tuesday the Air Force tested for the first time the biggest conventional bomb in the U.S. military's arsenal, a 21,000-pound munition that could play a dramatic role in an attack on Iraq.

Cheryl Irwin, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said the test was completed at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., but she did not know whether it was considered successful.

The bomb, known as the Massive Ordnance Air Blast, or MOAB, is guided to its target by satellite signals. It was dropped out the rear of a C-130 transport plane, officials said.

The bomb is so powerful that it's detonation was expected to create a mushroom cloud visible for miles.

Asked about the test at a Pentagon news conference, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld would not say whether it would be used in an Iraq war and he declined to discuss its capabilities.

"This is not small," he said.

The State Department urged Americans to leave Oman and the United Arab Emirates due to "heightened tensions" and "increased security concerns."

The U.S. military, meanwhile, said coalition aircraft enforcing a "no-fly zone" over southern Iraq early Tuesday bombed three unmanned, underground military communication sites. The sites were located in separate towns southeast of Baghdad.

At the same time, the work of inspectors continued — but not without hitches.

Iraq destroyed more Al Samoud 2 missiles Tuesday. Since March 1, Iraq has crushed about half its arsenal — 52 of about 100 missiles.

However, Iraq forced the suspension of U.S. surveillance flights, threatening one of two planes already in the air, a senior U.S. official said Tuesday.

U.N. inspectors apologized for the second surveillance flight by an American U-2 spy plane, saying it was a "technical mistake," a senior Iraqi official said Tuesday.

U.S. officials said Iraqi fighter jets forced the planes to abort their mission and return to base. A Pentagon official said the decision to end the mission "in the interest of safety."

In Baghdad, Maj. Gen. Hossam Mohammed Amin, the chief Iraqi liaison with U.N. weapons inspectors, told reporters that a second flight by the American U-2 had not been scheduled.

According to CBS News Consultant Stephen Black, Iraq challenged surveillance flights on several occasions during earlier rounds of inspections in the 1990s. Forcing the planes out of its airspace could provide a window for Iraq to hide materials it was afraid the plane might detect.