Although the Kremlin said in a statement that Mr. Putin was adamant about the return of the inspectors, senior administration officials indicated that the Russians were less resistant to war with Iraq in private than they were in public.
"To build a public case, we need the international inspectors," a senior administration official said.
If Mr. Hussein defies or obstructs weapons inspectors, the Bush administration will have to decide whether to seek approval from the Security Council for a military strike.
Frustrated by Iraq's repeated refusal to cooperate fully with United Nations inspectors, the Clinton administration -- joined by Britain, also Mr. Bush's most likely partner if he decides to attack Iraq -- decided to mount a series of airstrikes in late 1998.
"Now," he said, "we've seen a situation develop in which he's kicked out all the inspectors and this administration appears to be helpless to do anything about it.
The angry resignation letter submitted Wednesday by inspector Scott Ritter left administration officials scrambling to explain their nuanced approach and worrying that public opinion could turn decisively against them.
Early last year, when a railroad administration inspector visited Norfolk Southern's locomotive shop in Chattanooga, Tenn., he found that event records were not being properly inspected.
He was referring to a report published last month by a public administration inspector saying that the Genop union illegally received 31.2 million euros from P.P.C. from 1999 to 2010, and that hundreds of thousands of euros were spent on trips, meals and gifts.
He was préfect in Corsica (1947-49), in Constantine, eastern Algeria (1949-51), secretary general to the préfecture of police in Paris (1951-54), secretary general to the French protectorate of Morocco (1954-55), and once again préfect in Constantine, with the added mission of being inspector of the administration in eastern Algeria (1956-58).
