THE PRESIDENT

Man, he looked and sounded exhausted. The spin is that he was trying to look calm and reassuring. I just thought he looked wiped. There were moments when he almost seemed catatonic with fatigue. I gleaned a couple of things: he actually believes that intelligence evidence of Saddam’s deliberate and continued defiance of the U.N. could sway the Security Council. You have to admire his faith in the sincerity of his opponents. Alas, it’s pretty clear by now that the French, Germans and Russians simply don’t care if Saddam is flouting the U.N. They just don’t want American military power exercized in the region – ever again. I doubt if they had videotape of Saddam making anthrax in his bathrobe that they’d agree to enforce their own resolution. I still think forcing a vote is the right thing to do, even if we lose badly. After these past few weeks, watching the extraordinary duplicity and blindness of several Security Council members, I’ve reluctantly come to the verge of hoping that this crisis helps destroy the United Nations as a credible international body. And I don’t think it would harm Bush badly on the home front. His position that it is his duty to protect Americans is a good and solid one. No one will dismiss that argument – especially if we find horrors inside Iraq. I also noticed Bush’s emphasis on a “just” post-Saddam regime, which is not the same as instant democracy. We’ll have to keep the pressure up on that one. All in all, though, this press conference struck me as a mistake. He looked drained, wan, exhausted from this interminable diplomatic process. He seemed defeated to me – and the U.N. has effectively defeated him and protected Saddam. But not for too much longer.