09/03/2002 - Updated 08:42 PM ET
President reaches out to Congress on Iraq
By Laurence McQuillan, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — President Bush meets with congressional leaders on Wednesday to explain his thinking on the dangers posed by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and outline argument that he must be removed from power.
President Bush during an appearance Monday at the Carpenter's Union Picnic in Neville Island, Penn.
(By Hyungwon Kang, Reuters)
The meeting at the White House is the first time Bush has met with members of Congress to build support for his decision to oust Saddam.
The United States accuses Saddam of developing chemical, biological and nuclear weapons in violation of the accord that ended the Gulf War in 1991. Bush has pledged to consult with Congress on Iraq, but he has not said he will seek approval if he orders military action. Republican and Democratic leaders have said Congress should debate Iraq and vote on military strikes, just as it did before the Gulf War.
"This is part of the president reaching out and consulting," spokesman Ari Fleischer said of the meeting, the first of several with members of Congress. "This is the president reaching out and leading. This is the president reaching out and listening."
Bush has made no final decision on whether to order a military attack to achieve his goal, Fleischer said, but he reiterated that "the policy of the United States is regime change" in Baghdad.
Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle, who attends the meeting today, told reporters Tuesday that he will ask Bush, "What information do you have specifically that would lead us to take any action?" He said he also wanted to ask the president, "To what extent have you thought through the ramifications of action?"
Senate Republican leader Trent Lott said he expects "the administration is going to give us information they have, what their concerns are, the approach they may try to take in the weeks and months ahead."
Administration officials said Bush has decided to build a case for removing Saddam, mindful that U.S. saber rattling has generated concern among allies, the public and even some GOP supporters. "What the president wants to do, and will do, in his own time, is to provide information he feels is important with respect to any judgment he decides to make," Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said at the Pentagon.
The United States has been supporting Iraqi opposition groups that want to overthrow Saddam, but most experts say those groups cannot succeed without U.S. military strikes.
Iraq and the war on terrorism will dominate Bush's agenda next week. He will address the United Nations on Thursday and have private talks with world leaders in New York on Thursday and Friday.
"The president knows full well the importance of public opinion in a democracy, the importance of having a country's support in any such endeavor," spokesman Fleischer said. "He understands the importance of congressional opinion. He understands the importance of world opinion."
Administration officials said that in today's session, Bush will clarify his position on resumption of U.N. arms inspections after recent statements by key officials that were seen as contradictory. Vice President Cheney said inspections would "provide false comfort;" Secretary of State Colin Powell said they could be a "first step" to resolving a standoff with Iraq.
"Inspectors are part of the policy that we expect Saddam Hussein to live up to," Fleischer said. "But even if he lives up to it, is that a guarantee to the world that he doesn't have weapons of mass destruction? The answer is no."
Iraq indicated over the weekend that it was open to allowing U.N. inspectors back into Baghdad for the first time since 1998, when they left after being denied access to sites where there were suspicions the government was developing weapons. Iraq said Tuesday that it was willing to allow arms inspections to resume, but only if trade sanctions were lifted.
Rumsfeld dismissed the offer.
"I haven't seen any inclination on their part to agree to anything, except as a ploy from time to time to muse over the possibility, 'We might do this or we might do that,' and ... play the international community and the U.N. process like a guitar, plucking the right string at the moment to delay something," he said.
Iraq indicated over the weekend that it was open to allowing U.N. inspectors back into Baghdad for the first time since 1998, when they left after being denied access to sites where there were suspicions the government was developing weapons. Iraq said Tuesday that it was willing to allow arms inspections to resume, but only if trade sanctions were lifted.
"I haven't seen any inclination on their part to agree to anything, except as a ploy from time to time to muse over the possibility, 'We might do this or we might do that,' and ... play the international community and the U.N. process like a guitar, plucking the right string at the moment to delay something," he said.
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