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

To: Glenn Petersen who wrote (372052)	3/16/2003 5:43:59 PM
From: Thomas A Watson	Respond to of 769670

"Tomorrow is the day that we will see if diplomacy will work," said President Bush at a press conference following an impromptu Summit in the Azores with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar and Portuguese leader Durao Barroso. When asked by a reporter if that meant the window for diplomacy would close after tomorrow, Bush answered with an unqualified "Yes." British Prime Minister Tony Blair styled the significance of "tomorrow" as seeing whether in the eleventh hour, the Coalition could convince the U.N. to step up and make a "final appeal for strong, unified message to Saddam." Key to that getting that unified message from the U.N. is the threatened French veto, which still hangs over any U.N. vote on a second resolution authorizing force to disarm Saddam. Commentators said that the remarks from the Summit parties appeared to be as much a final ultimatum to the U.N. as to Iraq's Saddam Hussein. "More discussion is just more delay," said Blair. Portugese leader Jose Barroso, who hosted the Summit, said that the "last initiatives" for diplomacy would be made tomorrow. Aznar said, "His [Saddam's] is the sole responsibility." The Spanish leader also emphasized the importance of trans-Atlantic solidarity. "Crucial days lie ahead for the world," said Bush, who added that military intervention would be the "beginning not the end" of the Coalition's experience in Iraq. He promised that as soon as Saddam had been removed from power, the economic sanctions would be lifted. He also promised to return the valuable resources of the country to Iraq's people. Bush made pains to note that the Summit was occurring on the 15th anniversary of Saddam's use of chemical agents against the Kurds. "There is little reason to hope that Saddam Hussein will disarm," Bush said in his weekly radio address Saturday morning. "If force is required to disarm him, the American people can know that the armed forces have been given tool and every resource to achieve victory." The BBC, citing Spanish news media, reported Blair initially wanted the Azores summit to be held in Hamilton, Bermuda. But Aznar suggested Portuguese territory instead, offering a fourth country to be included in the coalition. The weather was clear, sunny and warm on the mid Atlantic island as the Portuguese citizenry watched the huge contingent of reporters and TV crews from both sides of the Atlantic position themselves for the arrival of the leaders. Terceira, 361 square miles in area with about 60,000 residents, is one of the nine islands of the Azores, first settled in the 15th century. Saturday the president called Blair and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi from his Camp David retreat where he was preparing for the summit, telling Berlusconi, he was "going the extra mile on the diplomatic front," according to White House spokeswoman Jeanie Marmo. None of the strong opponents in the United Nations to military action -- Germany, Russia, China and France -- were invited or consulted about the impromtu meeting. Faced with failure to win support in the United Nations Security Council for a second resolution setting a deadline for Iraq, the Bush Administration abruptly announced the summit meeting late Thursday. Not a War Counsel The Summit was billed as a session to discuss the diplomatic juggernaut in the U.N. and not a war council. It was also a forum designed to impress Saddam that the timetable is not yet wrecked by the French-led opposition and that there is still a coalition ready to take action. If a new U.N. resolution is not forthcoming, the United States might simply issue an ultimatum allowing United Nations inspectors, humanitarian workers and other foreign nationals to leave the country before hostilities begin. It was Blair, faced with massive public opposition to the war in his own country, who pressed the U.S. and Spain to get U.N. approval for a tight deadline and an authorization for military action. But world public opinion and the hard blockage by France and Russia, warning that they would veto any resolution that threatened war or set a deadline for military action, has robbed him of that chance. Until late in the week, the United States felt it might rally enough votes, nine, in the Security Council to show significant support and force one of the permanent members to veto it. But a week of hard arm-twisting left American diplomats unsure that they could even get nine votes. The Turkish government too seemed to stymie Bush's plans, so far being unwilling to speed up approval for American forces to pass through their territory and open up a northern front against Iraq. Refugee reports carried in various news broadcasts said Iraqi forces were setting up to defend the northern oil fields and had dug pits to fill with oil and ignite, if U.S. forces attacked. The Azores lie some 2,300 miles from the East Coast of the United States and 900 miles from Portugal. The talks will take place on a Portuguese Air Force base that normally houses search and rescue squadrons. It was a World War II British airbase for attacks against German submarines and has been used by the U.S. Air Force. The island's isolation appeared ideal for security purposes. The island population is Portuguese and quite remote from the normal travel routes. It is also isolated from the worldwide public opposition to the war. There were mass demonstrations Saturday outside the White House and in several other capitals and American cities. newsmax.com