Bush tries to bolster Iraq case
Posted on 02/23/2003 7:06:48 AM PST by MeekOneGOP
Bush tries to bolster Iraq case
U.S., Britain working on resolution to show Baghdad's defiance
02/23/2003
CRAWFORD, Texas - Entering a final diplomatic phase, President Bush said Saturday that the new resolution being prepared for the U.N. Security Council will state "in clear and simple terms" that Iraq is thwarting the U.N. demand to disarm.
With Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar at his side, Mr. Bush also challenged other world leaders who have been reluctant to go to war. In testing times, he said, "we discover who is willing to stand up for the security of free peoples and the rights of mankind."
Mr. Bush conferred with Mr. Aznar during an overnight visit at his Central Texas ranch, as the United States and Britain sought compromise wording in a new resolution that could garner wide international support.
"We're trying to put together something which countries can rally behind when they see the strength of the case. That's important," said a senior administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "So, it needs to have, and I think will have, a clear and irrefutable logic to it."
The president said the new resolution would be offered to the Security Council early this week, followed by another report by chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix.
"During these final deliberations," Mr. Bush said, "there is but one question for the council to address: Is Saddam Hussein complying with Resolution 1441?"
That resolution, approved Nov. 8 by a unanimous vote of the 15-member Security Council, mandates "serious consequences" for Iraq if it does not abandon its development of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.
Other council members, led by France and Germany, want more time for the U.N. inspectors to work in Iraq.
France, Russia and China, along with the United States and Britain, are permanent council members with unilateral veto power. The Bush administration has been working overtime to ensure that power will not be used.
"Some people have a habit of underestimating President Bush," said White House press secretary Ari Fleischer. "But the president always believes that through leadership, through adherence to principle and by fighting for the right thing, logic and diplomacy will prevail."
Confidence in approval
Mr. Bush and his top aides have been guarded on the wording of the new resolution, but they have signaled that it may not be very precise in authorizing military force against Iraq or in setting a deadline for using it.
Yet, Mr. Bush indicated it would be approved, noting the unanimous vote last fall.
"The clarity of vision that took place four months ago, I'm confident, will be in place after the Security Council takes a good look at the facts," he said. "We're just beginning."
On Saturday, before they met reporters in the Marine helicopter hangar just outside the president's ranch, Mr. Bush and Mr. Aznar joined in a conference call with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to plot strategy in rallying international support against Mr. Hussein.
Italy is not a member of the Security Council, but the administration official said Mr. Berlusconi has "shown great courage in bringing together a number of European nations," eager to topple Mr. Hussein.
"It's quite appropriate that [Mr. Bush and Mr.Aznar] would reach out to one of their chief allies and supporters in Europe," the official said.
Later, Mr. Fleischer said Mr. Bush called the presidents of two other countries with rotating seats on the Security Council - Chile and Mexico.
In conversations with Chilean President Ricardo Lagos and Mexican President Vicente Fox, Mr. Fleischer said the president emphasized "how the Security Council needs to be strong to disarm Saddam Hussein."
Mr. Aznar flew to Texas on Friday from Mexico after meetings with Mr. Fox, who has sided with other council members who want to give the weapons inspectors more time in Iraq.
To approve a new resolution, the United States and Britain need the support of seven other council members - and no vetoes from France, Russia or China. So far they are short, with only Spain and Bulgaria publicly in their corner.
"We cannot designate Saddam Hussein as the manager of international peace and security," Mr. Aznar said.
An emerging diplomat
Like many other leaders in Europe, Mr. Aznar faces staunch anti-war sentiment at home. Still, he has emerged lately as a sort of roving diplomat.
Fresh from consultations in Mexico and the United States, he is expected to fly to France this week to meet with French President Jacques Chirac.
"Spain is very clearly in favor of the strength of the trans-Atlantic link," Mr. Aznar said. "Spain is committed to an active role in contributing to an appropriate response to the threat that Saddam Hussein's regime entails for international peace and security."
In Iraq, meanwhile, U.N. inspectors tagged for destruction al-Samoud 2 missiles, which have been found to exceed the U.N.-mandated 93-mile range. But Mr. Bush said the missiles were "just the tip of the iceberg."
"Why don't they destroy every weapon?" he asked.
"Saddam Hussein wants time ...and he thinks he will get time," Mr. Bush said, noting that Iraq has been under U.N. mandates to disarm since the Persian Gulf War a dozen years ago.
"He has no intention of disarming. Otherwise, he would have done so."
Russia sends envoy
In Tehran, Iran, the chief nuclear weapons inspector, Mohamed el-Baradei told reporters that "we are not getting full cooperation from Iraq."
"We have not finished our work in Iraq," he said, "but we hope to get it in the coming weeks."
Also, as the prospect of war with Iraq mounted, former Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov was dispatched to Baghdad by Russian President Vladimir Putin on what was described as a confidential mission.
Mr. Primakov, who now directs the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, has long-standing ties with Iraqi leaders and sought unsuccessfully to avert the Gulf War after Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990.
Nonetheless, Russia still remains leery of another U.N. resolution.
"We continue to believe that there is no need for a new U.N. Security Council resolution on Iraq," Russian Deputy Foreign Minster Yuri Fedotov told the Interfax news agency. "We are against a resolution that would automatically authorize the use of force."
E-mail bhillman@dallasnews.com
Let's Roll !
Now this is all starting to sound stupid, just plain stupid. The president should use the 200,000 men and women sitting in the desert or bring them home.
I'm really disappointed that the administration has gotten itself into this mess---and appears unable to get out of it.
I've learned to just have patience. This is a trying time for all of us. Imagine how President Bush feels. Let's be patient and allow this to work itself out. I have confidence in President Bush. How often I've seen him UNDERestimated by the press, by the Democrats and very often by his own party and supporters ...Now this is all starting to sound stupid, just plain stupid. The president should use the 200,000 men and women sitting in the desert or bring them home.
I'm really disappointed that the administration has gotten itself into this mess---and appears unable to get out of it.
Now imagine how you would feel if algore was 'in charge', lol ...
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