As the clock ticks down for the U.S. deadline against Saddam Hussein, time is also running out for the President to decide if he will act against Iraq without Allied support. Whether that's in the best interest of the U.S. diplomatically is a matter of weighing gains and losses.
One U.S. Army cadet says gaining national security might be worth losing a few points in the eyes of the rest of the world.
"If the Allied forces do look down on the U.S., there's always opportunities in the future to go and make that up," said Mark Kenton, a senior in the ROTC program at UW-Stevens Point.
A local political scientist says, however, that the loss might be one that Americans pay for later.
"You don't know how far you've pushed the Allies when you go ahead and do things like, 'who cares what you think?'" said UWSP Professor Bryan Brophy Baerman. "If they're going to come back and help you later."
Both sides say the best scenario would be to have Allied support. With the clock running down, however, they say the President will have to weigh the possible gain against the consequences in the event he doesn't get it.
