President Bush will warn skeptical European allies this week they can't hide from the threat created by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
"As far as the axis of evil, you know, I understand there are some that would hope that the threat would go away, just on its own," Bush told the Italian press on the eve of his week-long trip to Europe. "But we're going to have to act."
"I'm deliberate in my thinking," he added, while repeating he has "no set plans right now" to launch a strike against Saddam.
"But I am serious about making it clear to countries around the world that we need to work together to rid the world of the threat. And the threat is a nontransparent dictatorship having weapons of mass destruction," he said.
The President heads to Berlin today, where some 10,000 police officers and troops have assembled to protect him amid planned anti-American protests that are expected to draw tens of thousands.
About 20,000 of those demonstrators hit the Berlin streets yesterday, a full day before Bush's arrival.
The President said he will "consult with our friends" about Saddam. He also will publicly make his case against the axis of evil — Iraq, Iran and North Korea — when he addresses a special session of the German Bundestag tomorrow.
"He will outline his vision of a Europe whole, free and at peace, and discuss Europe's and the United States' hard work and joint success in realizing the vision," national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said.
The centerpiece of the trip will be weekend meetings in Moscow and St. Petersburg with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The primary item on the agenda will be signing a joint arms reduction memo to eliminate thousands of nuclear warheads on both sides.
Bush also will press Putin to stop helping Iran upgrade its nuclear technology.