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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Skywatcher who wrote (347821)	1/25/2003 3:41:48 PM
From: calgal	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

Posted 1/25/2003 9:08 AM Powell: International community must disarm Iraq URL:http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2003-01-25-us-iraq_x.htm DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — Secretary of State Colin Powell warned the international community Saturday that it cannot shrink from its responsibility to disarm Iraq by force if necessary just because "the going is getting tough." "The burden is upon Iraq," Powell said on his arrival in this Swiss Alpine resort, where 2,300 world political and business leaders have gathered for an annual meeting. "Iraq must comply, or it will be made to comply with military force." En route here from Washington, Powell said no decision on use of force would be made before President Bush meets British Prime Minister Tony Blair next Friday at Camp David, Md. The highlight of Powell's visit to the World Economic Forum will be a speech Sunday in which he will outline the U.S. positions on Iraq and North Korea, among other topics. Officials said they believe it will be useful for the large gathering of influential personalities gathered in Davos to hear firsthand the view of America's top diplomat. Powell was planning to spend Saturday meeting separately with top officials from Turkey, Australia and Qatar. The United States has come under intense criticism for its growing threats to attack Iraq. Powell, the most senior U.S. official to attend the conference, said he would "bring a message of American determination to deal with an important threat represented by Saddam Hussein and his weapons of mass destruction." He said the week ahead will be important because U.N. inspectors will be presenting their 60-day report on their activities to the Security Council on Monday. Bush will discuss Iraq in his State of the Union address on Tuesday. Consultations with world leaders will follow. "We will determine what steps are appropriate at that time to move forward, keeping in mind always that the goal is disarmament of Iraq and its weapons of mass destruction," Powell said. He reiterated that Iraq's 12,000-page weapons declaration does not account for biological and chemical agents, chemical shells and nuclear documents — each of which "has the potential to kill thousands upon thousands of innocent human beings." "This is not the time for the international community, for the United Nations, to step back from the solemn responsibility it undertook in Resolution 1441 to disarm Iraq," the secretary said, "and that message I hope to deliver." "We cannot now start shrinking because the going is getting tough." A senior U.S. official, discussing the administration's options, said Friday that much will depend on whether the inspectors conclude their activities in Iraq have been useful. So far the inspectors have turned up few of the thousands of chemical and biological weapons the administration has insisted that President Saddam Hussein has concealed. Mark Gwozdecky, a spokesman for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that agency head Mohamed ElBaradei and chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix will give the Security Council a "B" report card. The office later qualified that characterization as limited to Baghdad's response to inspectors' questions and requests for information. The United States has come under increasing pressure to adopt a more cautionary stance. France, Germany and Russia all have argued that the inspectors be given more time to determine whether Iraq has weapons of mass destruction or programs to build them. And on Friday, more than 120 congressional Democrats sent President Bush a letter urging him to give the inspection process more time. The U.S. official told The Associated Press that if the inspectors disclose new evidence Monday, that would influence a decision to keep hunting for illicit weapons of mass destruction. Questioned about U.S. options, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher acknowledged that "there are ideas flying out there." En route here, Powell reaffirmed his view that if the United States decides to use force against Iraq without the explicit blessing of the Security Council, a number of nations will be prepared to offer assistance. "We will not be alone, that's for sure. I can rattle off at least a dozen (countries) from memory," he said. On North Korea, Powell said he was optimistic that bilateral talks eventually will be held and that a diplomatic solution to North's Korea's nuclear weapons ambitions can be reached. Powell said the situation on the Korean peninsula has "settled down a bit' in recent days following a series of moves by Pyongyang over almost three months to further develop its existing nuclear weapons capability. Powell said Russia, China and Japan all are eager for the United States to resume direct talks with North Korea. "I believe that will happen eventually, " Powell said, noting that President Bush favors a dialogue as well. Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

To: Skywatcher who wrote (347821)	1/25/2003 3:50:53 PM
From: Raymond Duray	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

U.S. lawyers warn Bush, Rumsfeld, on war crimes alertnet.org By Grant McCool NEW YORK, Jan 24 (Reuters) - A group of U.S. law professors opposed to a possible war on Iraq warned U.S. President George W. Bush on Friday that he and senior government officials could be prosecuted for war crimes if military tactics violated international humanitarian law. "Our primary concern ... is the large number of civilian casualties that may result should U.S. and coalition forces fail to comply with international humanitarian law in using force against Iraq," the group, led by the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights, said in a letter to Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. The group cited the particular need for U.S. and coalition forces to abide by humanitarian law requiring warring parties to distinguish between military and civilian areas, use only the level of force that is militarily necessary and to use weaponry that is proportionate to what is being targeted. The letter, which had more than 100 signatories, said the rules had been broken in other recent wars. It said air strikes on populated cities, carpet bombing and the use of fuel-air explosives were examples of inappropriate military action taken during the 1991 Gulf War, the 1999 Kosovo campaign and the 2001 Afghan conflict that led to civilian casualties and might be used again in Iraq. The letter to Bush and Rumsfeld coincided with similar notes sent this week to British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien by lawyers in those countries. Ironically, Bush on Wednesday advised Iraqi officers and soldiers to disobey any orders to use weapons of mass destruction in the event of a conflict. "If you choose to do so, when Iraq is liberated, you will be treated, tried and persecuted as a war criminal," he said. On Sunday, Rumsfeld said he would favor granting Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and senior Iraqi leaders immunity from possible war crimes prosecution if it would clear the way for their exile and avoid a war. INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT Government officials in Britain and Canada could theoretically be investigated by the new International Criminal Court in The Hague if it was determined that international laws had been broken in war. The United States has refused to cooperate with the court and has withdrawn its signature from the treaty establishing it. The letter to Blair, dated Jan. 22, from Public Interest Lawyers said that if Britain's actions in Iraq were deemed possible war crimes, "we, and others, will take steps to ensure that you, and other leaders of the U.K. government are held accountable." The Canadian group, Lawyers Against the War, said in its letter dated Jan. 20, that it was putting Chretien's government on notice that without explicit U.N. Security Council approval for a war on Iraq, "we will pursue all responsible government officials on charges of murder and crimes against humanity in both the Canadian and the international criminal courts." One of the leading signatories to the letter to Bush said although Washington was not a party to the ICC, U.S. officials could still be prosecuted under the Geneva Convention. "War crimes under that convention can be prosecuted wherever the perpetrators are found," said Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights. He said the situation could be likened to the attempt by a Spanish magistrate to prosecute former Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet in 1996 for human rights violations during his rule.