'Moment of truth' today
Posted on 03/17/2003 2:33:37 AM PST by MeekOneGOP
'Moment of truth' today
Bush gives U.N. one day for Iraq's disarmament
03/17/2003
LAJES, Azores Islands - President Bush and his staunchest allies on Sunday gave the U.N. Security Council one last day to embrace the "immediate and unconditional disarmament of Saddam Hussein."
If the 15-member Security Council, which has been deadlocked for weeks, does not act decisively against Iraq on Monday, Mr. Bush suggested that war was imminent.
"Tomorrow is a moment of truth for the world," he said during a news conference with the leaders of Britain, Spain and Portugal at his side. "Tomorrow is the day that we will determine whether or not diplomacy can work."
In Baghdad, Mr. Hussein continued to be defiant, warning of worldwide retaliation for any military strike.
"When the enemy starts a large-scale battle, he must realize that the battle between us will be open wherever there is sky, land and water in the entire world," Mr. Hussein was reported by the official Iraqi News Agency to have told his military commanders.
Mr. Bush, who flew nearly 2,500 miles across the Atlantic on Sunday for the hastily arranged summit, met with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar and Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Durao Barroso, the host who governs the Azores.
Mr. Aznar pointedly noted that the meeting was not called to declare war but rather to offer Mr. Hussein the "last opportunity" to abandon his development of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.
"We are well aware of the international world public opinion," Mr. Aznar said, referring to anti-war sentiment around the world. "We are also very well aware of our responsibilities and obligations."
Mr. Blair, who is under relentless pressure in Britain to avert war with Iraq without explicit U.N. backing, agreed that diplomacy was near an end.
The 'final stages'
"We will do all we can in the short time that remains to make a final round of contacts, to see whether there is a way through this impasse," he said. "But we are in the final stages because, after 12 years of failing to disarm him, now is the time when we have to decide."
It was Mr. Bush, though, who was most adamant about pressing ahead, as his military commanders fine-tuned war plans and hundreds of thousands of troops rehearsed for battle in the Persian Gulf.
He was asked directly during the 35-minute news conference whether Monday would be the last day for the Security Council to consider the pending resolution by the United States, Britain and Spain to force Iraq to disarm - whether "one way or another, the diplomatic window has closed."
And he replied bluntly: "That's what I'm saying."
Later, he responded to a follow-up question first directed at Mr. Blair about whether there would actually be a U.N. vote Monday on the new resolution.
"I was the guy that said they ought to vote," Mr. Bush said, recalling his assertion during his last White House news conference 10 days ago. "And one country voted - at least showed their cards, I believe.
"It's an old Texas expression - show your cards, when you're playing poker," he said. "France showed their cards. After I said what I said, they said they were going to veto anything that held Saddam to account.
"So, cards have been played," Mr. Bush said, "and we'll just have to take an assessment after tomorrow to determine what that card meant."
Mr. Bush flew to the Azores on Sunday morning after a shortened weekend at Camp David, and he returned to the White House that night.
His schedule for the week has been cleared again so that he can deal with last-minute diplomacy and other Iraq developments.
Mr. Bush is expected to address the nation on his plans, perhaps early this week. And he has said he would give advance warning of war, if he settles on it, so that U.N. weapons inspectors, foreign diplomats, journalists and others can leave Iraq.
Little hope for peace
But in his weekly radio address Saturday, the president was looking beyond the last-ditch diplomacy to the imminent prospect of war.
"There is little reason to hope that Saddam Hussein will disarm," Mr. Bush said.
"If force is required to disarm him, the American people can know that our armed forces have been given every tool and every resource to achieve victory," he said. "The people of Iraq can know that every effort will be made to spare innocent life and to help Iraq recover from three decades of totalitarian rule."
Traveling with the president Sunday were many of his senior aides and advisers, including former White House communications counselor Karen Hughes, who continues to consult with him regularly on some of the nation's most pressing issues from her home in Austin.
His chief speechwriter, Michael Gerson, was also on the trip, another sign that preparations are well under way for a major address.
"It's an option," White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said, providing no other details.
Back in Washington, as the president flew east, Vice President Dick Cheney, in a rare television round, appeared on two of the Sunday morning news shows. And Secretary of State Colin Powell did three others.
Both emphasized, as Mr. Bush did later, that diplomacy had all but run its course.
The White House had billed the summit Sunday in the Azores as a "last, final chance" to avert war through diplomacy, or, as Mr. Barroso said Sunday, "the last opportunity for a political solution."
But Mr. Blair and Mr. Aznar are Mr. Bush's staunchest allies in his campaign to disarm Iraq. And no invitations were extended to the half dozen wavering nations with rotating seats on the Security Council, or to France and Russia, which have threatened to use their vetoes as permanent council members to block any resolution that might authorize the use of military force against Iraq.
More time sought
On the eve of the summit, France, Russia and Germany again sought more time for U.N. weapons inspectors to work in Iraq, though they indicated support for a "very tight timetable" for completion of the work. And French President Jacques Chirac said Sunday that he could accept a one-month deadline.
"One month, two months, I am ready to accept any accord on this point that has the approval of the inspectors," Mr. Chirac was quoted as saying in a CBS 60 Minutes interview.
Asked about a 30-day deadline, Mr. Chirac said, "Everything the inspectors propose should be accepted."
Still, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin had told France 2 television earlier that war appeared inevitable. "It is difficult to imagine what could stop this machine," he said.
The United States and Britain have nearly 300,000 military personnel in the Persian Gulf, and final maneuvers are under way for war.
In their pending U.N. resolution, the United States and its two allies have set Monday as a deadline for Mr. Hussein to comply with the U.N. resolution approved last fall mandating "serious consequences" if he does not disarm. But the resolution had been mired from the start in bitter diplomatic wrangling, and the sponsors might not even seek a vote.
Mr. Bush and his allies met on Lajes, one of the Portuguese islands in the mid-Atlantic, amid tight security, away from weekend anti-war demonstrations held around the world. Their meetings were at the Top of the Rock officers club on the island's sprawling U.S.-Portuguese air base.
Nine hours in the air
Round trip, Mr. Bush flew nearly 5,000 miles over nine hours for a one-hour meeting, a news conference and quick dinner with his allies.
"These leaders have spoken repeatedly throughout the week," Mr. Fleischer said, referring to a nearly continuous round of telephone diplomacy in recent days. "They share a common goal about making certain that Saddam Hussein is disarmed."
E-mail bhillman@dallasnews.com
Tick! Tick! Tick! 
He was asked directly during the 35-minute news conference whether Monday would be the last day for the Security Council to consider the pending resolution by the United States, Britain and Spain to force Iraq to disarm - whether "one way or another, the diplomatic window has closed."
And he replied bluntly: "That's what I'm saying."
Later, he responded to a follow-up question first directed at Mr. Blair about whether there would actually be a U.N. vote Monday on the new resolution.
"I was the guy that said they ought to vote," Mr. Bush said, recalling his assertion during his last White House news conference 10 days ago. "And one country voted - at least showed their cards, I believe.
"It's an old Texas expression - show your cards, when you're playing poker," he said. "France showed their cards. After I said what I said, they said they were going to veto anything that held Saddam to account.
"So, cards have been played," Mr. Bush said, "and we'll just have to take an assessment after tomorrow to determine what that card meant."
"TPOS" Jacques Chiraq
The Million dollar question is "How did France know AHEAD of the attack that Saddam had a bio-weapon that Cyproflaxin would protect their troops from?"
| [Bush's] schedule for the week has been cleared again so that he can deal with last-minute diplomacy and other Iraq developments.
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[Bush's] schedule for the week has been cleared again so that he can deal with last-minute diplomacy and other Iraq developments.I'm sure that Bush will have some real sweet words for Saddam tonight at 7 Central Time !!
No telling what those might be.
That's exactly why they been persuing their strategy of delay since last January. The figured all they had to do was string the US along until it was too late.
They were the only Coalition "partner" that had NO CASES of GWS out of all the nations that went in.
That's interesting, I didn't know that. I thought GWS syndrome had something to do with exposure to our own chemicals. Don't know much about it, but that's the impression I've gotten from the media.
"How did France know AHEAD of the attack that Saddam had a bio-weapon that Cyproflaxin would protect their troops from?"
Wouldn't it be something is this war cleared up all the mysteries regarding GWS.
I'll see your 20 and raise you another 800 years.
Happy Birthday to ME,
Happy Birthday to ME...
Happy BIRTHday dear Hatteras....
Happy Birthday to MEEEEEEE...
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