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White House: Saddam Missed 'Last Chance'
Yahoo News ^ | 12/18/02 | Ron Fournier - AP

Posted on 12/18/2002 7:54:50 PM PST by NormsRevenge

White House: Saddam Missed 'Last Chance'

In a series of meetings, the president and his advisers swung back and forth on the question of whether Iraq is in "material breach" of the United Nations (news - web sites), which would provide what Bush considers legal justification for war.

Senior administration officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Wednesday afternoon that Bush had decided to strongly condemn Iraq's weapons disclosure as full of omissions and deceptions but would not immediately assert that Saddam is in "material breach."

Later, those same officials and others involved in the talks said the issue was reopened for debate Wednesday night, and Bush seemed to be leaning toward finding Saddam in violation. Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) planned to announce the decision Thursday.

Whether he finds Saddam in violation or not, Bush plans this week to launch what officials called a deliberative process that would push the prospects for military action several weeks into next year.

He will press the United Nations to demand interviews outside of Iraq with Saddam's weapons scientists, forcing a showdown that Bush believes would bolster his case for war or reveal secrets of Saddam's arsenal, officials said.

The Pentagon (news - web sites), meanwhile, continued preparations for possible war. As many as 50,000 troops may be deployed in early January for duty in the Persian Gulf area, according to officials who spoke Wednesday on condition of anonymity. They said Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld had not yet signed the deployment order. More than 50,000 U.S. troops are already in the Gulf region.

The senior administration sources spoke on condition of anonymity after Bush met with his foreign policy team to sketch out strategy in response to Iraq's 12,000-page weapons declaration.

"My guess is that the United States will take some time and will talk to some of our friends and allies around the world about the (Iraqi) declaration and share ideas and thoughts about what's in it and what may not be in it," Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told CNN's "Larry King Live."

Powell said the U.S. analysis of the Iraqi declaration "shows problems with the declaration, gaps, omissions, and all of this is troublesome." Rumsfeld said the U.S. analysts reviewing the declaration "are still trying to find things ... that they expected to be there that weren't there."

The White House suggested Bush had problems with the declaration beyond previously disclosed omissions concerning chemical and biological weapons last noted in Iraq four years ago.

Bush, who plans to address the matter Friday, wants to soothe anxious allies and keep his pledge to have "zero tolerance" for the Iraqi president defiance — a balance aides concede won't be easy to strike.

Iraq's declaration, required under a U.N. resolution, asserts that Saddam has no weapons of mass destruction — a claim the United States says it is prepared to rebut.

"We are not encouraged that they have gotten the message or will cooperate," Powell said.

Rumsfeld said Iraq's chemical and biological arsenals are more formidable than during the 1991 Persian Gulf War (news - web sites).

"In weapons of mass destruction, one has to believe they are much stronger," Rumsfeld said. "So, it is a dangerous business, and he (Saddam) is engaged in a dangerous game."

Bush intends to use lapses in the declaration as evidence of Saddam's ill intent, increasing pressure on U.N. weapons inspectors to use all their powers to uncover Iraq's deceits, the officials said. He will allow weapons inspectors to continue their work, aided by an increase in U.S. intelligence about Saddam's weapons program, sources said.

Powell and John Negroponte, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, will outline Bush's position Thursday, with the president planning to address the issue Friday — perhaps in a brief encounter with reporters.

Also Thursday, the United Nations' nuclear chief will tell the Security Council that further inspections are needed to verify Hussein's claims, U.N. officials said. Mohamed ElBaradei, joined by chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix, will make a case for more inspections, said an official with the U.N. nuclear regulatory agency.

Under the terms of Resolution 1441, passed Nov. 8, false statements or omissions in the declaration — coupled with a failure to comply with inspections — would be a "material breach" of Iraq's obligations to disarm.

Saddam has thus far complied with inspections, but hard-liners in the administration want Bush to liberally interpret the resolution's language. They argue that Saddam is taking advantage of a two-step test for "material breach" and should be found in violation if he violates either the inspections or the declaration provisions.

Bush believes Saddam will resist demands under the U.N. resolution to bring scientists out of Iraq for interviews, violating his agreement to cooperate with inspectors and giving the United States a stronger case for "material breach," officials said.

Presenting the administration's opening argument, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer (news - web sites) told reporters that Saddam has missed the final opportunity to come clean about his weapons of mass destruction.

"This was Saddam Hussein's last chance," he said, while promising a "deliberative, thoughtful" U.S. response.

The "last chance" comment evoked Bush's warning in November that should Saddam deny possessing weapons of mass destruction "he will have entered his final stage with a lie." Officials said that final stage begins Friday, when Bush issues his formal assessment, and could end in war several weeks from now.

In London, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw echoed what aides said was Bush's assessment of the declaration, citing Saddam's failure to account for the weapons of mass destruction listed in the final report of the inspectors who left his country in 1998.



TOPICS: Breaking News; Foreign Affairs; Germany; Government; Israel; Japan; Russia; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: lastchance; saddam
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1 posted on 12/18/2002 7:54:50 PM PST by NormsRevenge
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To: NormsRevenge
Apparently President Bush's patience with Saddam Hussein is wearing thin.
2 posted on 12/18/2002 7:55:44 PM PST by SamAdams76
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To: SamAdams76
Whatever it takes to boost the economy. Altho I don't think that is his primary motivation. But it worked for FDR.

Mid-January or sooner, Baghdad. Bush has other tougher nuts to crack after that.
3 posted on 12/18/2002 8:03:43 PM PST by NormsRevenge
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To: NormsRevenge
Tick....tick....tick....tick....tick....
4 posted on 12/18/2002 8:17:12 PM PST by mhking
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To: NormsRevenge
How will history remember the doctrine of preemptive attack on nations that have never threatened us? My suggestion for a title is 'The Rise and Fall of the American Empire'.

Alternatively:

Oil your base are belong to U.S.

5 posted on 12/18/2002 8:18:36 PM PST by UnBlinkingEye
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To: NormsRevenge
Tell the U.N. to jam it up their backside and rack the bombs.
6 posted on 12/18/2002 8:21:29 PM PST by Excuse_My_Bellicosity
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To: UnBlinkingEye
The Iraq attack will be a fly fart in history.
7 posted on 12/18/2002 8:21:30 PM PST by Husker24
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To: UnBlinkingEye
Oil your base are belong to U.S.

We get more oil from Venezuela than Iraq and its 4000 miles closer

Explain why we are not in Caracas today?

8 posted on 12/18/2002 8:21:57 PM PST by Semper Paratus
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To: UnBlinkingEye
How will history remember the doctrine of preemptive attack on nations "that have never threatened us"?

LOL. What?

If we do nothing, they will remember us as extinct.

You don;t work for Kofi , do ya?
9 posted on 12/18/2002 8:26:40 PM PST by NormsRevenge
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To: Husker24
The Iraq attack will be a fly fart in history.

Do you think Weapons of A$$ Destruction will be used?

10 posted on 12/18/2002 8:26:54 PM PST by UnBlinkingEye
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To: UnBlinkingEye
Saddam, is that you?
11 posted on 12/18/2002 8:27:52 PM PST by arkfreepdom
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To: Semper Paratus
Explain why we are not in Caracas today?

What makes you think we aren't?

12 posted on 12/18/2002 8:28:07 PM PST by UnBlinkingEye
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To: NormsRevenge
When did Iraq attack the nation that supplied all their weapons prior to 1990?
13 posted on 12/18/2002 8:30:06 PM PST by UnBlinkingEye
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To: NormsRevenge

Can you say “Lucky”? Do you feel lucky Saddam? Well do ya Punk?

14 posted on 12/18/2002 8:31:27 PM PST by Barnacle
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To: arkfreepdom
Sharon begging for another $14 billion in handouts is that you?
15 posted on 12/18/2002 8:34:15 PM PST by UnBlinkingEye
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To: NormsRevenge
That's OK, we have a bunker buster with Saddam's name on it.
16 posted on 12/18/2002 8:40:14 PM PST by The Real Deal
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To: UnBlinkingEye
How will history remember the doctrine of preemptive attack on nations that have never threatened us? My suggestion for a title is 'The Rise and Fall of the American Empire'.

Actually, we beat them in the Gulf war. We agreed to back off if they didn't develop weapons of mass destruction. They didn't honor their agreement therefore we are completely justified in going to war with them.

Remember, when one side surrenders, the other gets to write the rules.

17 posted on 12/18/2002 8:41:40 PM PST by ProudGOP
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To: UnBlinkingEye
Get a life!
18 posted on 12/18/2002 8:42:23 PM PST by The Real Deal
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To: Barnacle
Can you say “Lucky”? Do you feel lucky Saddam? Well do ya Punk?

Attack on Iraq Betting Pool

19 posted on 12/18/2002 8:44:07 PM PST by Momaw Nadon
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To: UnBlinkingEye
Saddam, is comparing me to Sharon supposed to be an insult?
20 posted on 12/18/2002 8:46:56 PM PST by arkfreepdom
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