Bush: Monday 'moment of truth' for world
03/17/2003
LAJES, Azores Islands - Poised for war, President Bush and three allied leaders set a one-day deadline Sunday for the United Nations to demand immediate disarmament of Iraq.
"Tomorrow is a moment of truth for the world," Bush said after a hurriedly called Atlantic island summit to discuss efforts at disarming a government long believed to maintain weapons of mass destruction.
"Now we make a final appeal to make a strong, unified message on behalf of the international community," added British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who joined Bush and the leaders of Spain and Portugal for a few short hours of summitry.
They gathered at a time when more than 250,000 troops, a naval armada and an estimated 1,000 combat aircraft are positioned in the Persian Gulf area, an American-led force ready to strike if and when the president gives the word.
One administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Bush plans to address the nation shortly after the diplomatic window closes Monday - possibly as early as Monday night.
Bush urged other nations to support "the immediate and unconditional disarmament" of Iraq. France, Germany and Russia have opposed an additional United Nations resolution to set an ultimatum for the Iraqi leader to disarm - and the French have threatened to veto it. Efforts to win the votes of uncommitted nations at the U.N. Security Council have faltered in recent days.
For his part, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein made clear he would resist. "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," the Iraqi leader told his military commanders in remarks carried by the official Iraqi news agency.
And Hans Blix, the chief United Nations weapons inspector, said inspections would continue on Monday, as planned, "unless we call them back."
Bush and the leaders of the three allied nations met at an American air base in the Azores, Portuguese territory in the Atlantic Ocean.
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar said the agreement among the leaders marked "a last chance, one last attempt to reach the greatest possible consensus among ourselves."
"Any military presence, should it be necessary, will be temporary. ... Our commitment to support the people of Iraq will be for the long term," the four leaders said in a formal statement.
Bush sounded as if he didn't expect reluctant countries to change their minds.
Asked whether Monday was the day that would determine whether diplomacy could work, he replied, "That's what I'm saying."
"We hope tomorrow the U.N. will do its job," Bush said. Alternatively, he said, "Saddam Hussein can leave the country if he's interested in peace."
One administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the diplomatic process would end on Monday, regardless of whether a U.N. resolution passed, failed or was withdrawn.
The president was scornful of France's role in the diplomatic tug of war that has unfolded in recent months.
Noting that he said 10 days ago he wanted the nations of the Security Council to show their cards, 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."
One senior U.S. official said that in his remarks, Bush did not intend to rule out accepting a compromise on Monday that would briefly extend a March 17 deadline written into the resolution that has stalled at the U.N. This official added, though, that any new resolution must be backed by a threat of force, something France has opposed.
In his remarks, Bush seemed at times to be looking beyond war, saying that "Iraq's liberation would be the beginning, not the end, of our commitment to its people."
He pledged humanitarian relief, an end to international sanctions and an effort to rejuvenate the nation's economy. "We'll make sure that Iraq's natural resources are used for the benefit of their owners, the Iraqi people," he said.
Bush planned to call fellow leaders on the flight back to Washington aboard Air Force One.
American frustration with the French was on display during the day, both in Bush's remarks and in comments by Vice President Dick Cheney.
French President Jacques Chirac said Sunday he was willing to accept a 30-day deadline for Iraq to disarm, provided the move was endorsed by U.N. weapons inspectors.
Two thousand miles away, Cheney brushed that suggestion aside in an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press," recounting a long list of French actions in recent years that he said had let Saddam avoid disarmament.
Blair noted that some nations oppose any ultimatum to Saddam.
The result, he said, is that the Iraqi leader is playing a game that "he has played over the last 12 years. Disarmament never happens but instead the international community is drawn into some perpetual negotiation," he said.
"Now we have reached the point of decision," he said.
Portugal Prime Minister Jose Durao Barroso called the Azores summit "the last chance of a political solution. It may be a small chance but if there is only one chance in a million it's worth trying this opportunity."
In Washington, Secretary of State Colin Powell said, "Is it time to bring the curtain down on this or is there some hope?" Cheney appeared to answer the question, saying, "There's no question but what we're close to the end, if you will, of the diplomatic efforts."
Powell suggested that the Iraqi president could avert a war in his country by fleeing to another nation along with his top lieutenants. He said he thought there were countries that "would be willing to do that as their contribution to avoiding a war."
At the same time, he said he would advise weapons inspectors, humanitarian aid workers and journalists now in Baghdad "to take a hard look at the situation they are in, and it would be probably better for them to start leaving or making plans to leave."
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