I THINK THAT THIS A.P. STORY EXPLAINS WHAT’S NEXT:

If the United States and Britain propose a resolution before March 14 they would run the risk of a veto by France, Russia and China. It would be a punishing diplomatic setback that Bush may not want to risk.

Nor is there any guarantee of success later on.

Going to war without a fresh resolution would not mean going it alone, however. Britain, Spain, Italy, Australia, Turkey, Romania, Greece and Poland are among the nations that have indicated they would support the United States.

“If Saddam Hussein is not disarmed and is allowed to develop his capabilities he could strike Romania and the rest of Europe,” Romanian Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana said this week as the parliament in Bucharest agreed to provide noncombat troops to a U.S.-led coalition and to permit use of Romania’s air space and airports.

Bush in his speech to the U.N. General Assembly last September suggested he considered the United Nations (news – web sites) on the edge of irrelevance.

Declare the U.N. irrelevant, go to war, then set up a parallel organization of, you know, legitimate governments. Will Bush have the balls?

It’s riskier not to, isn’t it?