Timeline for War

Saddam Hussein knows U.N. Security Council Resolutions. In the past decade plus, he has flouted 16 of them. Resolution 1141, passed unanimously last Friday and calling for full disclosure of the Iraqi dictator's arsenal of weapons of mass destruction, could be the latest that he disregards. Or the last.

The Iraqi Parliament has already voted to dismiss the resolution. The Bush administration has dismissed their dismissal. Comply or die, the message from Washington remains. Tonight: Prelude to Pre-emption. Why the decision to wage war might not be so simple, and why war might not be inevitable, after all.

Guests:

Roula Khalaf, Middle East editor, the Financial Times

Dennis Ross, counselor, Washington Institute for Near East Policy

Lawrence Korb, senior fellow and director of national security studies, the Council on Foreign Relations