Bush to Meet with Advisers Amid Iraq Speculation Mon Aug 19, 1:57 PM ET By Adam Entous
CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) - President Bush ( news - web sites) will meet at his Texas ranch on Wednesday with his top national security advisers, including Vice President Dick Cheney ( news - web sites) and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, but officials sought to dampen speculation they were readying military action against Iraq. The White House said the meeting would focus on reforming the military's weapons, strategy and finances, and developing a system to defend against a missile attack on the United States. Bush has made ousting Iraqi President Saddam Hussein ( news - web sites) a top priority, and the world is watching closely for signs of action in what critics say would be a dangerous precedent. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has called such action an "adventure." White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan said "that is not the purpose" of Bush's meeting with Cheney, Rumsfeld, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice ( news - web sites), White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, and Gen. Richard Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. White House communications director Dan Bartlett implied any decision may be weeks or months away. "We'll continue to have that discussion as we go into the fall," he said. Bartlett also implied the administration may stop short of invading Iraq, saying Bush may decide "that we need to take action to minimize the threat that he (Saddam) now poses." John Pike, an expert on defense policy and the director of GlobalSecurity.org, said Bush may launch air strikes against suspected chemical and biological weapons plants and other military facilities as soon as late November. He said deposing Saddam, the stated goal of Bush's Iraq policy, could wait for later. ATTACK SPECULATION GROWS The Bush administration was holding the meeting as the U.S. strengthened its military facilities in the Gulf region. The Pentagon ( news - web sites) is shipping military hardware from Europe to the Middle East, and senior U.S. officials recently met with Iraqi opposition leaders. Last week Rice said the United States had no choice but to take action against Saddam. Bush, who calls Iraq part of an "axis of evil," maintains an attack would be justified because Saddam is allegedly trying to build an arsenal of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. Saddam has used chemical weapons to quell rebellion from ethnic Kurds in the mountainous northern region of his fractious nation. But Bush faces dissent from within his own Republican Party, as well as opposition from key European allies, in seeking to overthrow Saddam by force. Undercutting U.S. efforts to create a unified front against Iraq, Russia is moving to expand its economic ties with Baghdad. Some European allies have said an attack on Iraq could destroy international support for the U.S.-led war on terror. "They're losing the initiative that they have and have a lot of ground to make up just in terms of public opinion," said Ivo Daalder, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, referring to the Bush administration. While Bush has promised to consult with Congress and U.S. allies, Pentagon adviser Richard Perle said the administration would not expect other NATO ( news - web sites) allies to participate. "Our European allies are just not relevant to this. And the one of some importance, the United Kingdom, is, I believe, going to be with us," said Perle, chairman of the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board, an advisory panel. "The rest of the Europeans prefer to look the other way or cut deals with Saddam or buy him off in various ways." On Friday Bush said he would consult with others but make decisions based on the "latest intelligence." Article at: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020819/ts_nm/ bush_dc_1
