Pakistan likely to abstain in Security Council vote.
The prime minister of Pakistan said tonight that it would be "very difficult for Pakistan to support a war against Iraq," but he stopped short of declaring that his country would vote against the United States this week in the United Nations Security Council, where Pakistan is a revolving member. Other officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the government had decided to abstain on the crucial vote, which would be a setback for Washington as it seeks to assemble a majority in the Security Council to vote for a new measure that would condemn Iraq's record and justify military action.

So Bush and Powell's bribery and threats have so far gotten them only four of the nine votes they need, ignoring for the moment that both France and Russia have said they will veto. The US, UK, Spain and Bulgaria say they will vote for it, France, Russia, China, Syria and Germany will vote against it. Pakistan will likely abstain. That means the arm-twisters have to get all five of Mexico, Chile, Cameroon, Angola and Guinea. And Chile is reported to be extremely pissed about the spying and dirty tricks the US has used on its UN delegation. I'd guess, based on absolutely no diplomatic experience, that Chile will vote against and the other four will abstain.

So it may be the killer B's (Bush, Blair, Bulgaria) 4, Axis of Good 6, Axis of Abstention 5. Not to mention those two or three vetos. Of course, we should give Bush credit for a little more support on this--Israel, for example, and the leaders of Italy, Australia, Portugal and a few other countries who are steadfastly ignoring large anti-war majorities in their countries. And, I almost forgot, I'm sure Bush has the backing of Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda.