U.S. Says U.N. Could Repeat Errors of 90's
Fearing defeat in the Security Council, Britain — apparently with the Bush administration's reluctant acquiescence — raced to offer compromises that might induce uncommitted Council members to vote in favor of military action. Chief among them is the listing of specific disarmament "benchmarks" that Saddam Hussein, Iraq's leader, would have to meet to avoid war.

"What people are asking us to do is define more precisely for them, to define what it is that would allow us to say, yes, he is cooperating, or not," Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain said today. One such benchmark, he said, would be whether Iraq was allowing its weapons scientists to be interviewed outside the country.…

Britain is also considering calls to extend a deadline beyond March 17, which several undecided nations have said would be essential. Exactly how far the deadline would be extended is uncertain. Britain may be willing to consider an extension of one or two weeks, officials said, while the undecided nations would prefer something closer to a month.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/11/international/middleeast/11IRAQ.html