“And so that is what we have been pursuing with many countries around the world, and that's the nature of the discussions here in Washington, as well as through our embassies overseas,” Reeker said.

He was further asked at what level the arm-twisting was occurring: “A variety of levels - staff directors. There are also teams that will visit countries overseas. So it's involved most countries throughout the course of our normal diplomatic business,” Reeker said.

The arm-twisting continues: the New York Times reported last week that John R. Bolton, the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security and the Bush Administration's point man for the Court, travelled to London and Paris last week to urge those governments to sign broad exemption clauses.

The N.Y. Times said this was to be signed “before the United States takes any military action against Iraq”.

“But expectations for immediate success are muted, especially after the United States failed in a recent attempt to have American peacekeepers automatically exempted during the annual review of NATO's rules of engagement for the Balkan peacekeeping operations.”

Bush now has Congress on his side. He’s got the Senate. He has England, Italy, Turkey. He’s working hard on Russia, China, members of the U.N. Security Council. He will be “patient”, as he continues to remind us.