The White House said Saturday it would be "not very hard at all" to assemble an alliance to confront Saddam Hussein without the United Nations, a clear signal that President George Bush's patience with the international organization is reaching its limits.
As France, Russia, Mexico and other allies seek to water down his zero-tolerance approach to Iraq, Bush renewed his call for the U.N. to confront Saddam or stand aside while the United States acts.
"If the U.N. does not pass a resolution which holds him to account and that has consequences, then, as I have said in speech after speech after speech, if the U.N. won't act if Saddam Hussein won't disarm we will lead a coalition to disarm him," the president said at the 21-nation Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
Later, Secretary of State Colin Powell said the prospects for a tough resolution may be slipping away.
"I don't want to say that we're near a solution because it may evade us," he told reporters.
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