Bush outlines bold vision for Iraq
President Bush addresses the American Enterprise
Institute on Wednesday night.
Feb. 26 -- NBC News visits a
remote base in Kuwait
somewhere near the Iraq
border where U.S. warplanes
take off every night for
combat in the “no-fly zone.”
Jim Miklaszewski reports.
President pledges extensive
reconstruction after Saddam
NBC, MSNBC AND NEWS SERVICES
WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 — President Bush outlined a future
without Saddam Hussein on Wednesday, vowing that the
United States would stay in Iraq as long as necessary after a
war in a reconstruction effort he likened to the campaign to
rebuild Europe and Japan after World War II.
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uld quickly send a supplemental request to Congress seeking money to pay for the war if hostilities break out.
SPEAKING TO the American Enterprise Institute, a
conservative think tank, the president left little leeway for Saddam
to remain in power, even as the United States maintained that he
could avoid war by fully disarming himself of weapons of mass
destruction.
“We will not allow the triumph of hatred and violence in the
affairs of men,” Bush said in a sober address in which he vowed
that U.S. forces would remain in the country as long as they needed
to get the job done, but “not a day more.”
At the same time, Bush put Iraqi opposition factions on notice
that the United States would insist that a post-Saddam government
be a democracy. “We will make sure that one brutal dictator is not
replaced by another,” he said.
Bush used his address to answer Arab states and European
allies who have denounced the prospect of war on the ground that
it could destabilize the Middle East. On the contrary, he stressed,
action against Saddam was part of a larger U.S. battle for the “future
of the Muslim world.”
“The United States and other nations are working on a road
map for peace,” Bush said, promising that one day Israel and a
Palestinian state would live “side by side, in peace.”
“Old patterns of conflict in the Middle East can be broken,” he
said. “... A liberated Iraq can show the power of freedom to
transform that vital region by bringing hope and progress into the
lives of millions.”
CONFLICT AT A GLANCE
•
President Bush outlines a future without Saddam,
pledges U.S. would stay in Iraq as long as necessary
•
House of Commons backs Blair on Iraq
•
Group calling itself "September 11" issues America's
Cup-related threats linked to action Iraq
•
Blix: Iraq lacks "fundamental decision" to disarm
REBUILDING IRAQ
Bush likened U.S. plans for Iraq after a war to the Allies’
massive campaign to rebuild Europe and Japan after World War II,
outlining a multibillion-dollar campaign over many years to ensure
democracy and prosperity.
Without going into detail, the president indicated that the
United States and its allies would essentially take over Iraq’s
military, at least in the short term, a proposal certain to run into
controversy on Capitol Hill and at the United Nations.
Bush promised that allied forces in Iraq would “provide security
and protect its borders,” a task he said would require “a sustained
commitment from many nations, including our own.”
The coalition forces
would strive to protect
Iraq’s oil fields in the face
of predictions that Saddam
would order their
destruction if he came
under attack. It would be
vital to “protect Iraq’s
natural resources from
sabotage by a dying regime
and ensure they are used
for the benefit of Iraq’s own
people,” Bush said.
Bush said his
administration had already
begun steps to protect
ordinary Iraqis, vowing to
feed the people, settle refugees and take the lead in destroying
suspected chemical and biological weapons.
Washington has earmarked 3 million emergency food rations for
the country, he said, and would make sure that 55,000 food
distribution sites authorized under the U.N. oil-for-food program
would be “stocked and open as soon as possible.”
In addition, he said, Washington would donate “tens of
millions of dollars” to U.N. refugee and food programs.
MEXICO’S SHIFT
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Bush announced his bold outline as his administration made
significant new strides on the diplomatic front to prepare for war.
The U.N. Security Council was set to meet behind closed doors
Thursday to discuss a draft resolution, sponsored by Britain, the
United States and Spain, that would lay the groundwork for war by
declaring that Iraq had “failed” to meet U.N. disarmament demands.
The allies need nine “yes” votes — and no veto from any of the
five permanent members — to win approval.
While the vote is not expected for two weeks, the
administration appeared to be making headway after chief U.N.
weapons inspector Hans Blix said Iraq still had not made a
“fundamental decision” to disarm, despite a recent handover of
documents welcomed by Blix’s experts. Blix is readying another
report to the Security Council this week.
A senior Bush administration official said Russia and China
appeared increasingly unlikely to veto the U.S.-British-Spanish
draft resolution.
That would leave France, the most outspoken opponent to U.S.
war plans, more isolated on the Security Council. Germany has
joined France in leading the opposition to war with Baghdad, but it
does not have veto power.
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