HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK ---------------------------
And what would that make you old boy? And not this isn't April Fools Day, folks.] Bush Calls Saddam 'Murderous Tyrant' Mon Oct 7, 9:58 PM ET By RON FOURNIER, AP White House Correspondent CINCINNATI (AP) - President Bush (news - web sites), seeking support for war against Iraq, called Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) a "murderous tyrant" Monday night and said he may be plotting to attack the United States with biological and chemical weapons. AP Photo AP Photo Slideshow: Iraq and Saddam Hussein Bush Warns Saddam Hussein to Disarm (AP Video) Iraq Says U.S. Demands 'Unacceptable' (Reuters) Daschle Urges World Backing on Iraq (AP Video) Bush also said Saddam could be within a year of developing a nuclear weapon, and he declared, "Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof — the smoking gun — that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud." "I am not willing to stake one American life on trusting Saddam Hussein," the president said. His address opened a week of debate in Congress over resolutions giving the president authority to wage war against Iraq. The House and Senate planned votes for Thursday, and the Bush-backed resolution was expected to pass by wide margins. Facing skepticism at home and abroad, Bush portrayed an apocalyptic struggle between good an evil, saying the threat posed by Saddam could dwarf the damage done in the Sept. 11 attacks. He said Iraq must be the next front in the war on terrorism. "There is no refuge from our responsibilities," Bush said. If it comes to war, "We will prevail." Citing U.S. intelligence, Bush said Saddam and his "nuclear holy warriors" are building a weapons program that could produce a nuclear weapon in less than a year. U.S. intelligence agencies issued a report last week estimating 2010. "If we allow that to happen, a terrible line would be crossed," the president told civic group leaders at the Cincinnati Museum Center. As he spoke, new polls revealed lingering unease among voters about going to war, particularly if casualties were high or fighting distracted attention from America's sagging economy. Democrats criticized Bush's insistence upon confronting Iraq alone if the United Nations (news - web sites) failed to act. About 1,000 protesters gathered outside the building where Bush spoke, police said. Tafari McDade, 11, held a white posterboard on which he had drawn the twin towers of the World Trade center. "We shouldn't go to war," he said. "I came down here with my mom to tell people that." The president hopes an overwhelming vote in Congress will persuade reluctant allies in the United Nations to adopt a tough new resolution forcing Saddam to disarm — by force, if necessary. "If we have to act, we will take every precaution that is possible," Bush said. "We will plan carefully. We will act with the full power of the United States military. We will act with allies at our side, and we will prevail." Bush said a cornered Iraqi military may "attempt cruel and desperate measures," suggesting that biological and chemical weapons could be used against U.S. troops. He warned that Iraqi commanders would face war crimes charges if they followed such orders. The president said U.S. intelligence shows Iraq to be building manned and unmanned aerial vehicles that could be used to target the United States with chemical or biological weapons. He also said Iraq had trained members of Osama bin Laden (news - web sites)'s al-Qaida terrorist group, and that a "very senior al-Qaida leader" had received medical treatment in Baghdad. "Alliances with terrorists could allow the Iraqi regime to attack America without leaving any fingerprints," he said. Bush hoped to dispel doubts of domestic critics and to persuade other nations to support a U.N. resolution ordering Iraq to submit to new weapons inspections. Advisers said the biggest questions Bush hoped to answer were: Why now? Why Iraq? "While there are many dangers in the world, the threat from Iraq stands alone because it gathers the most serious dangers of our age in one place," Bush said. "Iraq's weapons of mass destruction are controlled by a murderous tyrant, who has already used chemical weapons to kill thousand of people." "By its past and present actions, by its technological capabilities, by the merciless nature of its regime, Iraq is unique," Bush said. To bolster Bush's case, the White House was releasing newly declassified satellite photos suggesting that two suspected Iraqi nuclear sites have been rebuilt since they were destroyed in 1988. A third photograph was said to show activity at a suspected chemical plant. The address was loaded with political implications, coming four weeks before the Nov. 5 congressional elections that will determine control of the House and Senate. While Bush's job approval rating remains high, a new CBS-New York Times poll showed that a solid majority of Americans believe he should give U.N. weapons inspectors time to act. More than one-third of Americans fear the economy will get worse if the United States attacks Iraq, and half think military action against Iraq would increase the risk of terrorist attacks. Bush won support Monday from House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, one of the few senior Republicans in Congress who had voiced worries about his Iraq policy. Armey said he now believes Iraq violated terms of the peace agreement that ended the Persian Gulf War (news - web sites) a decade ago. "I don't see this as pre-emptive at all," he said. But Sen. Edward Kennedy (news, bio, voting record), D-Mass., urged Bush to exercise the same restraint that Kennedy's brother, President Kennedy, did in refraining from an attack on Cuba during the 1962 missile crisis. A first-strike attack on Iraq "is impossible to justify," Kennedy told the Senate. "Might does not make right. It is unilateralism run amok." Sen. John Edwards (news, bio, voting record), D-N.C., who supports a hard line toward Saddam, nevertheless accused the administration of "gratuitous unilateralism" that could undermine the war against terror. Bush, sensitive to charges that he is too eager for war, spoke mostly of efforts to disarm Saddam. He pledged to help Iraq recover if war is necessary. He said congressional authorization of a military strike "does not mean that military action is imminent or unavoidable. The resolution will tell the United Nations, and all nations, that America speaks with one voice and is determined to make the demands of the civilized world mean something." With his back to a pale blue wall etched with a map of the globe, Bush laid down tough conditions for a new U.N. resolution, insisting that Saddam reveal and destroy all his weapons of mass destruction. Witnesses to Iraq's "illegal activity" must be interviewed outside Iraq and be free to bring their families with them, he said. Weapons inspectors must have unfettered access to all Iraqi sites, he added. "The time for denying, deceiving and delaying has come to an end," Bush said. "Saddam must disarm himself or, for the sake of peace, we will lead a coalition to disarm him." At the United Nations, the United States continued talks with other governments, trying to gain approval for a Security Council resolution accusing Iraq of violating past resolutions, specifying what it must do now, and threatening force if it were to refuse. In Vienna, Austria, U.N. arms inspectors began four weeks of technical training for their possible redeployment to Iraq for a new assessment. Bush wants the mission delayed while he presses for a tough new U.N. resolution. Bush's address drew little interest from the broadcast television networks. ABC, NBC and CBS did not carry it live. The White House did not ask the networks to interrupt their normal programs for his speech. --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
