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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (36439)	8/7/2002 11:10:22 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Respond to of 281500

Saddam plans major speech as Bush vows to be patient By Nadim Ladki and Will Dunham sg.news.yahoo.com BAGHDAD/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Saddam Hussein announced plans to address his nation as nervous Iraqis feared war was inevitable, while U.S. President George W. Bush said on Wednesday Baghdad posed "real threats" but that he would consult with Congress and allies on how to proceed. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney made clear no decision had been made to go to war to oust Saddam. But Cheney also said a return of U.N. weapons inspectors to Iraq may not resolve concerns over Baghdad's ability to develop weapons of mass destruction. Saddam was set to make a "comprehensive national speech" on television on Thursday morning, the Iraqi News Agency said. The announcement came as Iraq's foreign minister launched a stinging attack on chief U.N. arms inspector Hans Blix. Although nominally marking the anniversary of the end of the 1980-88 war with Iran, Saddam may seek to prepare Iraqis for a new war. This time, it would be against the superpower against which he led them once before to defeat, in the 1991 Gulf War. Bush, committed to removing from power the Iraqi leader his father did not dislodge during the Gulf War, has accused Saddam of being a menace to the region. "These are real threats and we owe it to our children to deal with these threats," Bush said in a speech at a high school in Madison, Mississippi. "I promise you that I will be patient and deliberate, that we will continue to consult with Congress, and of course we'll consult with our friends and allies. We'll discuss these threats in real terms." 'PERHAPS THE MILITARY' Bush added: "And I will explore all options and all tools at my disposal: diplomacy, international pressure, perhaps the military. But it's important for my fellow citizens to know that as we see threats evolving, we will deal with them." Aides said it was not Bush's intention to send a conciliatory message to U.S. allies amid talk of war. They said he was simply restating U.S. policy. Key U.S. allies have been urging the United States not to launch a strike against Iraq in an attempt to carry out the official U.S. policy of a "regime change" in Baghdad. Arab leaders are adamantly opposed to such a move. Iraq offered last week to discuss the possible return of U.N. weapons inspectors, placed in Iraq after the Gulf War but withdrawn in 1998 on the eve of a U.S.-British bombing raid. A resumption of inspections aimed at stopping Iraq from acquiring weapons of mass destruction could increase pressure on the United States from its European and Arab allies not to attack. During a speech in San Francisco, Cheney cautioned that the threat posed by Saddam's pursuit of weapons of mass destruction could not be wished away and that the United States would not ignore the dangers posed by "a dictator who is clearly pursuing these capabilities." "Many of us, I think, are skeptical that simply returning the inspectors will solve the problem," Cheney said. "The president has not made a decision at this point to go to war," he added. "The international community will have to come together in some fashion and figure out how we're going to have to deal with this growing threat." NERVOUSNESS ON STREETS OF BAGHDAD On the streets of Baghdad, ordinary people sounded convinced war was inevitable and imminent, although there seemed little enthusiasm for a conflict. "We are not stupid, we hear the drums of war beating in the distance," said Mohammad, a shop owner in the Iraqi capital. "When the president of the world's only superpower says he wants to do something, he will try to do it. It doesn't mean he'll succeed but he will definitely try to do it," he said. Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri told the United Arab Emirates newspaper al-Bayan that Blix, a Swede, had caved in to "U.S. pressure and blackmail". "Blix has inherited the same duties undertaken by the spy Butler, who used to project an authority exceeding that of the Security Council and the secretary-general," he said, referring to former chief U.N. arms inspector Richard Butler. Iraq has repeatedly accused Butler, an Australian, of acting as a spy for the United States, and says any new inspections must not be a cover for U.S. espionage in Iraq. Giving a flavor of the mood among Saddam's loyal elite, the speaker of Iraq's parliament, Saadoun Hammadi, told an extraordinary session, "Threats against Iraq will not intimidate anyone and they are doomed to fail. "Our people are united, our faith is strong, our means are mobilized and active and our material and spiritual abilities are great," Hammadi added. There were new signs of division among U.S. allies, as German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, seeking left-wing support to stave off defeat in a September election, warned that a strike on Iraq would wreck the coalition behind Bush's war on terrorism launched after the September 11 attacks.