ABSTRACT
On December 11, 1999, a draft resolution on Iraq prepared by Britain and Holland was presented to the UN Security Council, even though the five Permanent Members had not reached a consensus on it. The reason for the rush was that the Anglo-Saxon duo on the Council wanted to take advantage of Britain’s presidency of the month. During the debate the objections raised by Russia, France and China were so strong that President Jeremy Greenstock feared a veto by one of them. To avoid this, he thrice postponed the vote, thus also giving an opportunity to the resolution’s sponsors to amend it and make it palatable to the objectors. In the end the non-Anglo-Saxon trio abstained, as did Malaysia, when the vote was finally taken on December 17.
