THE buzz in diplomatic row is that only the United States stands in the way of President Gloria Arroyo’s chairing a special summit of the United Nations Security Council in September when the world body opens the 60th session of the General Assembly.

It’s possible that President George W. Bush may relent and consent to having President Arroyo preside at a Security Council summit, but at this time a signal is yet to be given by the White House to the U.S. Mission to the UN.

Presidents of the four other permanent and veto power-wielding members of the Security Council, namely the United Kingdom, China, France and Russia, have signified their intention to attend the summit, together with the presidents of the 10 non-permanent members of the council, including the Philippines.

September is the second and final turn of the Philippines to serve as the council president. It will be a historical and diplomatic coup for President Arroyo to wield the gavel at the all-too important summit.

Why is Bush pussyfooting?

It might be that he’s still smarting from the premature withdrawal by Mrs. Arroyo of the small Philippine contingent to Iraq as a tradeoff for the release by Iraqi extremists of an abducted Filipino worker.

Outwardly, however, the Bush White House sings paeans to the Arroyo Administration and actually aiding it militarily to deal with homegrown and foreign terrorists operating in Mindanao.

In fact, the U.S. Embassy in Manila squelches any speculation that the U.S. is abetting a move to unseat Mrs. Arroyo who is under heavy fire from the church and the opposition for her family’s alleged link to jueteng syndicate lords and wiretapped conversations imputing cheating in the 2004 presidential election.

In a show of unequivocal support for the beleaguered Mrs. Arroyo, the American charge d’affaires in Manila said, “We support this government. This is a legitimate government. She (Mrs. Arroyo) is a duly and democratically elected president.”

So was Joseph Estrada. But the erstwhile popular leader was unseated in a people power revolt in 2001. Charged with an unbailable offense of plunder, arising from the same jueteng scandal hounding the Arroyos, he has been under house arrest for the last four years.

Is the U.S. speaking in forked tongue when it says it is solidly behind Mrs. Arroyo?