"Of course we would"

of COURSE they would...

At a White House press briefing on Friday, Deputy Press Secretary Tony Fratto was asked whether the Bush Administration would oppose "any effort to revoke" the 2002 congressional resolution which authorized the war in Iraq.

"Of course we would," said Fratto. "You know, the plan that we're in right now and that we're going forward on is to carry out the president's proposal to bring security to Baghdad. And the authorization in the Security Council resolution is clear."

read this tortured rationale and feel the pain...

[A] reporter asked why it would be "unreasonable" for Congress to consider a different resolution since "the threat that was envisioned at the time that resolution was passed was obviously Saddam Hussein."

"He has been gone now for nearly four years," the reporter continued. "Why would it be unreasonable for the Congress to consider that since the first of those two conditions has long since been met, that you wouldn't be in need of a different kind of resolution?"

Fratto replied, "Because it's simply not necessary. I mean, I think the second part of that section on authorization is still important and envisioned the changing nature there."

"I mean, the president -- you know, the president said this isn't the fight we entered in Iraq, but it's the fight we're in," Fratto continued. "I think that is what is recognized in the international community now. Certainly at the U.N. Security Council it envisioned changing circumstances in Iraq. There have been a lot of changing circumstances in Iraq. We went in as a multinational force under U.N. authorization to take military action in Iraq. We were there as an occupying force, and now we're there at the invitation of the sovereign elected government of Iraq."

The White House deputy press secretary said that "the war authorization spoke to and certainly envisioned subsequent U.N. Security Council resolutions, and the authorization's very clear in that the president has the authority to strictly enforce U.N. Security Council resolutions." Fratto then said he wasn't "sure if the Democrats are contemplating that the United States should not enforce U.N. Security Council resolutions."

"If that's something that they're contemplating, I think that would be interesting to some people to say the least," Fratto said.

lemme see... as i recall, john bolton, the former recess-appointed u.s. ambassador to that selfsame united nations, was of the opinion that the top floors of the u.n. hq could easily be removed without a noticeable difference... so, we're now beholden to the u.n...?

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