Posted on 02/06/2003 2:08:46 PM PST by Indy Pendance
WASHINGTON (AP) -- In the face of stiff opposition from allies, President Bush said Thursday that world leaders "must not back down" from Saddam Hussein and demanded quick action to disarm Iraq.
"The game is over," he declared. "Saddam Hussein will be stopped."
Bush said he would be open to a second U.N. resolution on Iraq, following up one approved last November, but only if it led to prompt disarmament.
"The Security Council must not back down when those demands are defied and mocked by a dictator," Bush said. If the U.N. fails to act, "The United States, along with a growing coalition of nations, is resolved to take whatever action is necessary to defend ourselves and disarm the Iraqi regime," he said.
Bush spoke after meeting with privately with Powell to discuss efforts to win U.N. approval of a resolution specifically authorizing use of force. Powell, who laid out the U.S. case to the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday, told lawmakers Thursday that the Iraqi situation would be brought to a conclusion "one way or another" in a matter of weeks.
Sticking largely to the case outlined by Powell on Wednesday, Bush said there is no doubt Saddam is not complying.
"Saddam Hussein recently authorized Iraqi field commanders to use chemical weapons, the very weapons the dictator tells the world he does not have," Bush said.
"Saddam Hussein has made Iraq into a prison, poison factory and a torture chamber for patriots and dissidents," Bush said. "Saddam Hussein has the motive and the means and the recklessness and the hatred to threaten the American people. Saddam Hussein has to be stopped."
He said, "The same terrorist network operating out of Iraq is responsible for the murder - the recent murder - of an American diplomat, Lawrence Foley."
Foley, a U.S. Agency for International Development official, was killed last November outside his home in Amman, Jordan.
"Saddam Hussein was given a final chance, he is throwing that chance away. The dictator of Iraq is making his choice," Bush said.
Foreign ministers responded mostly with calls for more weapons inspections after Powell's U.N. presentation, in which he asserted that Iraq was shifting and hiding weapons and missile programs from the current inspectors.
Powell told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that most of the statements read by foreign ministers after his speech had been prepared beforehand. He said he detected a shift in attitude when he talked to 13 of the ministers in private afterward.
Still, Bush and Powell were considering ways to attract more support for the possibility of using force to disarm Iraq.
Powell told the committee Bush would welcome a second resolution and "many members of the Council would not only welcome it, some of them would say we require one for participation in whatever might come."
A resolution approved unanimously by the Council in November authorized a new round of U.N. weapons inspections and warned Iraq of serious consequences if it defied earlier resolutions requiring it to get rid of weapons of mass destruction.
The Bush administration has taken the position that the November resolution was sufficient backing for the use of force. But France, among other nations, does not agree.
Another example of really bad and biased reporting by AP. How many foreign ministers? Who? How many made just the opposite response?
WASHINGTON — Saddam Hussein continues to defy the world, and now the world must take action immediately to stop him, President Bush said at the White House Thursday.
"The game is over. The danger Saddam Hussein poses reaches across the world," Bush said, with Secretary of State Colin Powell standing at his side.
"The Security Council must show whether its words have any meaning. The Security Council must not back down when those demands are defied and mocked by a dictator."
The president said the United States would endorse a second Security Council resolution, following up one approved last November, but only if it led to prompt disarmament. A second resolution would presumably declare Iraq in material breach and authorize the use of military force.
If the U.N. fails to act, Bush said, "the United States, along with a growing coalition of nations, is resolved to take whatever action is necessary to defend ourselves and disarm the Iraqi regime."
Bush's comments seemed to mark a turning point in U.S. strategy to build a consensus against Iraq, with aides saying the next few days would be dedicated to turning up pressure on reluctant allies such as France and Germany, as well as other U.N. members.
Bush was silent on a U.N. timetable.
Shortly before Bush spoke, British Prime Minister Tony Blair expressed confidence that Security Council nations calling for more inspections would support the U.S. and Great Britain if it is proved that Iraq is in breach of Resolution 1441, which calls for Baghdad to disarm.
Asked if he thought a Security Council resolution might be vetoed, Blair said:
"I don't think that is what will happen. I don't think we will get to the position of vetoes."
Foreign ministers responded mostly with calls for more weapons inspections after Powell's Wednesday presentation to the Security Council, in which he asserted that Iraq was shifting and hiding weapons and missile programs from the current inspectors.
A resolution approved unanimously by the Council in November authorized a new round of U.N. weapons inspections and warned Iraq of serious consequences if it defied earlier resolutions requiring it to get rid of weapons of mass destruction.
The Bush administration has taken the position that the November resolution was sufficient backing for the use of force. But France, among other nations, does not agree.
Earlier Thursday, Powell stuck to the phrase the administration has been using concerning a final decision on possible war -- "weeks, not months" -- but White House officials noted that Bush was no longer saying consultations would last that long.
Bush spoke after meeting with privately with Powell to discuss efforts to win U.N. approval of a resolution specifically authorizing use of force. Powell, who laid out the U.S. case to the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday, told lawmakers Thursday that the Iraqi situation would be brought to a conclusion "one way or another" in a matter of weeks.
Sticking largely to the case outlined by Powell on Wednesday, Bush said there is no doubt Saddam is not complying.
"Saddam Hussein recently authorized Iraqi field commanders to use chemical weapons, the very weapons the dictator tells the world he does not have," Bush said.
"Saddam Hussein has made Iraq into a prison, poison factory and a torture chamber for patriots and dissidents.
"Saddam Hussein has the motive and the means and the recklessness and the hatred to threaten the American people. Saddam Hussein has to be stopped."
He said, "The same terrorist network operating out of Iraq is responsible for the murder -- the recent murder -- of an American diplomat, Lawrence Foley."
Foley, a U.S. Agency for International Development official, was killed last November outside his home in Amman, Jordan.
"Saddam Hussein was given a final chance, he is throwing that chance away. The dictator of Iraq is making his choice," Bush said.
Bush spoke to reporters without taking questions.
The president said Saddam has not accounted for a "vast arsenal" of weapons of mass destruction and is pursuing weapons programs in defiance of U.N. resolutions.
"This deception is directed from the highest levels of the Iraqi regime, including Saddam Hussein, his son, the vice president and the very official responsible for cooperating with inspectors," Bush said.
Powell said Thursday a key to winning Security Council support would be a two-day visit to Baghdad this weekend by chief weapon inspectors Mohamed ElBaradei and Hans Blix.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
These are the ONLY inspectors who will make a difference.
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The White House has been regularly receiving the NSA transcripts ever since the inspectors returned to Iraq late last year. The damning nature of some of the transcripts, officials said, explain President Bush’s occasional outbursts of anger at the Iraqis, as well as the willingness by Powell—who had previously cautioned against war—to lay out a damning picture of Iraqi noncompliance in next week’s speech. One official who had dinner with Powell recently said the secretary remarked how “we have a stronger case than many people realize.”
No wonder he and the Democrats get along so well.
Saddam Hussein has to be stopped."
Amen!
Yeh, even when "they don't have any." (I believe we've just had an Iraq confession, aye?)
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