Bush: Iraq Inspections 'Not Encouraging'
Add White House - AP to My Yahoo! By SANDRA SOBIERAJ, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush (news - web sites) warned Iraq's Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) that he has until a Sunday deadline to prove he is serious about averting war. After the first week of United Nations (news - web sites) weapons inspections, Bush said: "So far, the signs are not encouraging."
"The inspectors are not in Iraq to play hide-and-seek with Mr. Saddam Hussein," the president said Monday in a get-tough speech at the Pentagon (news - web sites), his first extensive comment on the United Nations weapons inspections since they got underway last week.
"In the inspections process, the United States will be making one judgment: Has Saddam Hussein changed his behavior of the last 11 years? Has he decided to cooperate willingly and comply completely, or has he not? So far the signs are not encouraging," Bush said.
As evidence, he noted that Saddam's regime has recently fired upon American and British pilots patrolling no-fly zones over Iraq and has responded to United Nations disarmament demands with "protests and falsehoods."
"On or before the eighth of December, Iraq must provide a full and accurate declaration of its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs," Bush said, referring to a deadline established by the U.N. Security Council resolution unanimously approved last month.
"That declaration must be credible and complete — or the Iraqi dictator will have demonstrated to the world once again that he has chosen not to change his behavior," Bush said.
Making clear that the consequence would be war, the president added:
"The temporary peace of denial and looking away from danger would only be a prelude to broader war and greater horror. America will confront gathering dangers early before our options become limited and desperate."
Bush spoke at a Pentagon ceremony where he also signed legislation authorizing the $355.5 billion that he requested — and received earlier this year — for the military.
Across the country, Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) rounded out the White House's one-two punch at Saddam with a similar speech to 1,500 Air National Guard leaders meeting in Denver.
Cheney aimed to link the popular post-Sept. 11, 2001 war on terrorism and Osama bin Laden (news - web sites)'s al-Qaida terror network to today's campaign against Iraq.
Cheney said that, given the chance, al-Qaida would join outlaw regimes like Iraq to get weapons of mass destruction.
"That's why confronting the threat imposed by Iraq is not a distraction from the war on terror, it is absolutely crucial to winning the war on terror. The war on terror will not be won until Iraq is completely and verifiably deprived of weapons of mass destruction," Cheney said.
Cheney told the military leaders that the campaign could take years.
"This campaign may not be finished on our watch, but it must and it will be waged on our watch," Cheney said.
White House press secretary Ari Fleischer (news - web sites) said Bush will not himself review the Iraqi disclosure due on Sunday.
The timing of any subsequent action — diplomatic, military or otherwise — "will be determined by the president," said Fleischer. "... Saddam Hussein will have to figure out how long the United States intends to go along until we find out what Saddam Hussein is really doing."
The coordinated speeches by Bush and Cheney comes one week into the United Nations weapons inspections underway in Iraq.
A senior White House official said Iraq has not been as cooperative with inspectors as early reports suggest. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, did not elaborate.
White House officials said they do not expect Bush to take immediate action against Saddam after the deadline, even if Iraq claims not to have weapons of mass destruction. Instead, the administration is prepared to share its intelligence on Iraq's weapons programs with inspectors to help verify and challenge whatever disclosures Saddam makes Dec. 8, officials said.
Fleischer said Bush is not yet making any judgments on whether those inspections will be successful in disarming Saddam peacefully. Should the inspections route fail, Bush has vowed that the United States will lead allies into war to rid Iraq of any weapons of mass destruction.
"The president is skeptical that Saddam Hussein will comply and it's too soon to say. One week is not adequate time," Fleischer said.
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