Gulf Crisis: No Way Out?

BAGHDAD: Chief U.N. arms inspector Richard Butler says theres no way out of the standoff over Iraqs weapons of mass destruction and its refusal to grant UNSCOM access to presidential sites. But dont expect any military action as a result, says TIME correspondent William Dowell.

Butler will report to the Security Council on Thursday that Baghdad refuses to back down and allow the U.N. team to inspect presidential sites. That will leave the Security Council to decide what to do next. Says Dowell: Its hard to see what more anyone can do short of military action. But theres considerable feeling against any military action in the Gulf, and without the support of allies in the Arab world and the Gulf, its hard to imagine the U.S. launching an attack.

The feeling in the region is theyd prefer to see things calm down despite Iraq possessing biological weapons, rather than allow those weapons to become the reason for further conflict, says Dowell. Which means the outcome of the present standoff may be even more inconclusive than the resolution of the Gulf War itself.