Bush to U.N.: We Will Not Wait

U.S. sending more troops, aircraft carrier to region

February 7, 2003

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Alleging that Saddam Hussein has authorized the use of chemical weapons in the event of a war, President Bush on Thursday challenged the United Nations to back its words with actions in the face of what he labeled Iraqi defiance and mockery of the U.N. resolution calling for it to disarm.

"We have sources that tell us that Saddam Hussein recently authorized Iraqi field commanders to use chemical weapons, the very weapons the dictator tells the world he does not have," Bush said.

"We will not wait to see what terrorists or terrorist states could do with chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear weapons," Bush said.

The day after Secretary of State Colin Powell's presentation to the U.N. Security Council cataloguing what the U.S. calls a sustained attempt by Iraq to evade and deceive U.N. weapons inspectors, Bush repeated many of the charges Powell made linking Iraq to terrorist groups and possessing weapons of mass destruction.

"The Iraqi regime's violations of Security Council resolutions are evident, and they continue to this hour. The regime has never accounted for a vast arsenal of deadly, biological and chemical weapons. ... to the contrary, the regime is pursuing an elaborate campaign to conceal its weapons materials and to hide or intimidate key experts and scientists, all in direct defiance of Security Council 1441," Bush said in a televised statement from the White House.

"The United States would welcome and support a new resolution which makes clear that the Security Council stands behind its previous demands. Yet resolutions mean little without resolve, and the United States, along with a growing coalition of nations, is resolved to take whatever action is necessary to defend ourselves and disarm the Iraqi regime, " Bush said.

The latest developments:

• Chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix said Friday that Iraq appears to be trying to be more cooperative ahead of his weekend visit to Baghdad. Blix spoke after Iraq, for the first time, allowed arms inspectors to interview an Iraqi scientist in private.

• In a BBC interview, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said that, if one of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council were to veto a second resolution on military action to disarm Iraq, he would still support an attack.

• Russia, another permanent Security Council member with veto power, said Friday that there is currently no need for a second U.N. Security Council resolution on Iraq. Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov said that further U.N. steps will depend on what Blix and ElBaradei have to say after their visit to Baghdad this weekend.

• Former President Bill Clinton said he hopes Bush gets the support of the United Nations before undertaking any military action against Iraq but added that international law doesn't require that he do so.

• Powell continued to make the White House case against Iraq at a hearing Thursday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He said he expects the standoff with Saddam Hussein's regime to reach "an endgame in a matter of weeks."

• The Pentagon is considering cremating remains of troops who may die in a chemical or biological attack in a possible war with Iraq, officials said Thursday.

• The 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, announced it had received deployment orders Thursday assigning it to the U.S. Central Command, which oversees operations in Iraq. Military officials in Washington said later the orders have not actually been signed but soon will be.

• Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is in Europe, where he will press the case for the possible use of force against Iraq. But he could face a skeptical reception in meetings with the German and Russian defense ministers.

• In Ankara, the Turkish parliament agreed to allow the United States to upgrade some of its bases and ports. It is scheduled to vote February 18 on another measure that would allow U.S. troops to use the bases as a northern front in a possible war.

• The State Department warned U.S. citizens abroad of the heightened threat of terrorist acts against Americans, including suicide bombings, assassinations, and the growing threat of the use of chemical and biological agents

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/02/07/sprj.irq.wrap/index.html