Bush Doesn't Think Saddam Will Disarm
2 hours, 56 minutes ago
By RON FOURNIER, AP White House Correspondent
President Bush (news - web sites) says he'll try diplomacy "one more time,"
but he does not think Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) will disarm — even if
doing so would allow the Iraqi president to remain in power.
"We don't believe he's going to change," Bush said
as skeptical allies debated his proposed U.N.
resolution that would force Saddam to rid Iraq of
weapons of mass destruction or face consequences,
possibly military action.
"However, if he were to meet all the conditions of the
United Nations (news - web sites) — the conditions
that I've described very clearly in terms that
everybody can understand — that in itself would
signal the regime has changed," Bush said after a
Monday meeting with NATO (news - web sites)
Secretary-General George Robertson.
U.S. policy, approved by Congress and backed by
the Clinton and Bush administrations, demands
"regime change" in Iraq — a phrase widely
interpreted to require the ouster of Saddam.
In a rapidly changing diplomatic landscape, Bush and
his top advisers have strategically sent mixed signals
about whether Saddam could remain in power by
changing the nature of the regime.
"We've tried diplomacy. We're trying it one more
time. I believe the free world, if we make up our mind
to, can disarm this man peacefully," Bush said. "But
if not ... we have the will and the desire, as do other
nations, to disarm Saddam."
As he spoke, U.S. diplomats distributed a revised U.N. resolution on Iraq to the
other veto-wielding members of the Security Council that would toughen
weapons inspections and ensure there will be "consequences" if Iraq fails to
comply.
"Diplomacy needs to be backed by force, especially in matters like this," said
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher. He told allies it's time to wrap
up negotiations and pass the U.S.-backed resolution.
But diplomats from Russia and France, two countries that can block it,
expressed doubts that agreement can be reached.
Bush has demanded that Saddam disarm, stop supporting terrorism, end
persecution of ethnic groups, stop trading oil illegally, account for a U.S. pilot
and other nations' soldiers and civilians missing since the Persian Gulf War
(news - web sites) and let witnesses of his illegal activity be interviewed outside
Iraq.
Critics have said the conditions were purposely set too high for Saddam to
comply, and Bush is setting the stage for an inevitable military confrontation.
Bush and his advisers stress the potential for military action and removal of
Saddam while addressing domestic audiences. A congressional resolution
signed by the president last week gives him specific authority to use force.
The White House, however, plays down the push to oust Saddam while courting
world leaders, who are skeptical of military action. Entering the final stages of
U.N. negotiations, Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites)
suggested Sunday that Saddam could escape removal should he comply with
U.N. demands.
"The policy is regime change, however it is defined," White House spokesman
Ari Fleischer (news - web sites) told reporters.
Bush drew a distinction Monday between Saddam's Iraq and North Korea (news
- web sites), the reclusive regime that shocked U.S. officials this month by
conceding that it has a secret nuclear weapons program.
"What makes him even more unique is the fact that he's actually gassed his
own people," Bush said of Saddam. "He's used his weapons of mass
destruction on neighboring countries, and he's used his weapons of mass
destruction on his own citizenry.
"He wants to have a nuclear weapon. He has made it very clear he hates the
United States and, as importantly, he hates friends of ours," the president said. |
