he's playing his role well...and yet he just about admits that there's no way in hell this thing is going to pass the UN.

Powell said he was within "striking distance" of the necessary nine votes to win a majority on the 15-member council. But he conceded on "Fox News Sunday" that the French appeared set to "do everything they can to stop it" by using their veto. Such a veto, he warned, would "have a serious effect on bilateral relations, at least in the short term."

Yeah, right...like the US has never vetoed anything.

(Chuckle...and it's all Frances fault...it's not like [link|http://news.findlaw.com/ap_stories/i/1104/2-28-2003/20030228040002_25.html| Russia has threatened ] to do the same thing.)