Bush just wants war...Bush Resists Compromise Iraq Resolution
Diplomacy: Proposed congressional resolution circulating on Capitol Hill would narrow the conditions for a U.S. invasion of Iraq.
From Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- President Bush expressed deep reservations today about an alternative congressional measure authorizing force against Iraq, and demanded that the United Nations "put some calcium in the backbone" as it works up its own resolution on disarming Baghdad.
The president's spokesman, addressing questions about the cost of a war in Iraq, said Saddam Hussein's exile or assassination-- "the cost of one bullet if the Iraqi people take it on themselves"-- would be both preferable and cheaper.
"Regime change is welcome in whatever form it takes," White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said.
Later, Fleischer emphasized that "regime change" is the U.S. policy on Iraq, not specifically assassination.
"If the Iraqi people took matters into their own hands, no one would shed a tear," he said.
Another senior administration official said the United States was not currently assisting the Iraqi opposition in plotting an assassination of Saddam. Nor is the U.S. government interested in doing so, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Congress, while generally supporting the president's campaign against Iraq, has haggled with the White House over the wording of the resolution.
Bush summoned House members of both parties to the White House late this afternoon to spur progress, and was to meet with top Senate and House leaders on Iraq Wednesday morning.
Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph Biden, D-Del., and senior committee member Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., on Monday circulated an alternative proposal that they said "helps the president attract strong bipartisan support in Congress." Their draft resolution would focus on authorizing the use of force against Iraq as opposed to the entire region and make clear that dismantling Iraq's weapons of mass destruction would be the primary reason for using force.
"I don't want to get a resolution which ties my hands," Bush told reporters after meeting with lawmakers on terrorism insurance. Bush insisted on a resolution that "sends a clear signal to the world that this country is determined to disarm Iraq, and thereby bring peace to the world."
Asked about the Lugar-Biden compromise, Bush said he did not want a congressional resolution weaker than one passed by lawmakers in 1998.
"My question is, what's changed? Why would Congress want to weaken a resolution?" Bush said. Saddam, he said, is "more of a threat four years later."
Lugar, who met today with Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, said the White House feels the proposal takes away powers the president had in the past. "We feel it does not."
Biden added: "I'm hopeful they'll see the wisdom of our position. It's still in play."
"All of us recognize a military option is not the first choice. Disarming this man is, because he poses a true threat to the United States, and we've just got to work together to get something done," Bush said.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the Lugar-Biden measure "cuts back the existing authority under current United Nations Security Council resolutions and previous laws passed by the Congress."
According to Fleischer, the Lugar-Biden measure fails to demand that Saddam halt support for terrorism, stop repressing Iraqis such as Kurds, or cease threatening his neighbors.
The Lugar-Biden alternative leaves unclear whether allied pilots could continue to patrol no-fly zones, said another White House spokesman, Sean McCormack.
The five permanent U.N. Security Council members met at the United Nations today to discuss key elements of a U.S.-British draft resolution-- chiefly the threat of force against Saddam if he fails to comply with inspections and whether member states would be free to carry out the use of that force on their own.
Ambassadors from the United States, Britain, Russia, China and France said at the end of the closed-door meeting that they would continue discussions.
The United States and Britain want authorization to use military force if Iraq doesn't comply with inspectors. They face opposition from three veto-wielding council members-- Russia, France and China-- who oppose a resolution sanctioning military action at this point.
French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said Monday that France was interested in a first resolution demanding a return to inspections, followed by a second resolution threatening military action if Iraq fails to comply. The United States seeks a single resolution doing both.
Questioned on whether he would consider the French two-track approach, Bush said: "What I won't accept is something that allows Saddam Hussein to continue to lie, deceive the world. I'm just not going to accept something that is weak. It's not worth it-- the United Nations must show its backbone and we'll work with members of the Security Council to put a little calcium there, put some calcium in the backbone, so this organization is more likely to keep the peace as we go down the road."
In Vienna, meanwhile, the chief U.N. weapons inspector for Iraq said tentative agreement has been reached with Iraq on the return of his team to check for the presence of illegal, nuclear, chemical or biological weapons. Iraq said they expected an advance party in Baghdad in two weeks.
The Iraqi representatives have said "that they accept all the rights of inspections that are laid down" in previous resolutions authorizing U.N. inspections, said the chief inspector, Hans Blix.
The State Department said any inspections should be deferred until a U.N. resolution is approved. However, spokesman Richard Boucher said the Bush administration had no objection to inspectors making arrangements in advance.
As the Senate prepared to open debate this week on the resolution authorizing Bush to wage war, congressional budget experts said fighting Iraq would cost up to $9 billion a month.
Saying that Iraq's biological and chemical weapons stockpiles and its attempt to attain a nuclear capability are an immediate threat to U.S. security interests, the Bush administration is urging both Congress and the U.N. Security Council to approve resolutions authorizing the use of military force if Iraq does not abide by past demands to disarm. |
