Posted by Lilly from ? (160.129.27.22) on Thursday, September 19, 2002 at 4:00PM :
In Reply to: Text Of Bush's Iraq Proposal posted by andreas from p3EE3C3C3.dip.t-dialin.net (62.227.195.195) on Thursday, September 19, 2002 at 2:59PM :
More bullshit. Bush et al. have no real allies, or they'd be naming them.
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Bush Seeks OK for Military Force
President Bush Asks Congress for OK to Use Military Force to Disarm and Overthrow Saddam Hussein
The Associated Press
W A S H I N G T O N, Sept. 19 — President Bush asked Congress Thursday for authority to use military force to disarm and overthrow Iraq's Saddam Hussein, saying the United States will take action on its own if the U.N. Security Council balks.
The president was sending to Capitol Hill his proposed wording for a resolution that he wants Congress to approve before lawmakers adjourn to campaign for the Nov. 5 elections.
"That will be part of the resolution authorization to use force. If you want to keep the peace, you've got to have the authorization to use force," Bush told reporters in the Oval Office.
"This is a chance for Congress to indicate support, a chance for Congress to say we support the administration's ability to keep the peace, that's what this is all about."
House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, said that in the past Bush "has been very respectful of the prerogatives of Congress" and would likely give Congress a draft that outlines his major points. "He will expect us to make the formal drafts," Armey said.
Bush spoke to journalists after meeting with Secretary of State Colin Powell on his uphill diplomatic work to draft a United Nations Security Council resolution against Iraq that could overcome strong reservations by Russia and France, who have veto power in the Security Council.
"The United Nations Security Council must work with the United States and other concerned parties to send a clear message that we expect Saddam to disarm," Bush said.
"And if the United Nations Security Council won't deal with the problem, the United States and some of our friends will."
The gap between Russian and American viewpoints was underlined Thursday in comments by Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov. Upon arriving at the Pentagon to meet with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, Ivanov said he believed U.N. weapons inspectors will succeed in settling the question of whether Iraq has weapons of mass destruction.
"Being experienced in that sort of business both Americans and Russians I think we can easily establish (whether) there exist or not weapons of mass destruction technology," Ivanov said. Rumsfeld, who stood by silently as Ivanov spoke, has said repeatedly that inspections cannot be 100 percent reliable because Iraq has a long history of deceiving inspectors.
Bush declined to name any of the allies he's counting on for support, saying only that "time will tell."
"I think you're going to see that a lot of nations love freedom. ... We're confident that people will follow our lead," the president added.
As he spoke, White House advisers were behind the scenes telephoning congressional leaders with notice that Bush's proposed resolution was on its way to Capitol Hill.
Following his meeting with Powell, Vice President Dick Cheney and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, Bush then gathered a dozen Democrat and Republican lawmakers behind closed doors at the White House, immediately beginning the drive to build support for what would amount to a blank check from Congress.
House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, said that in the past Bush "has been very respectful of the prerogatives of Congress" and would likely give Congress a draft that outlines his major points. "He will expect us to make the formal drafts," Armey said.
Bush said he wanted the legislature to give him not only the power to make war with Saddam, but also an explicit restatement of U.S. policy that Saddam must be overthrown.
"That's the policy of the government," Bush said, adding that he wanted Congress' approval before lawmakers adjourn to campaign for the Nov. 5 elections.
Three senior White House aides familiar with the resolution's draft said it would give Bush maximum flexibility to confront the threat posed by Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, including an explicit OK to use military force.
Rumsfeld told the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday that Congress must act before the Security Council does.
"Delaying a vote in the Congress would send a message that the U.S. may be unprepared to take a stand, just as we are asking the international community to take a stand and as we are cautioning the Iraqi regime to consider its options," Rumsfeld said.
The Iraq resolution was expected to win overwhelming support from both parties in the House and Senate, possibly within two weeks. Although some prominent Democrats have called for caution, both Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., and House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., said they supported Bush on the issue.
"We want to make sure that whatever we do, we make the right decision," said Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-Texas.
While U.N. officials in New York prepared for the inspectors' return, U.S. and British officials began working on a new U.N. resolution aimed at authorizing use of force should Baghdad fail to comply with Security Council resolutions.
Western diplomats said the U.S.-British draft likely would include new instructions for weapons inspectors and a timetable for disarmament that would be tighter than one laid out in an existing resolution passed in December 1999.
Britain, which helps the United States patrol the no-fly zone over southern Iraq, has been the staunchest public ally for Bush's threats of war. Rumsfeld said several other U.S. allies have said privately they would support a military strike against Iraq, but he declined to say which countries or how many.
"There are a number of countries afraid of Saddam Hussein" and therefore reluctant to let their cooperation be known publicly, Rumsfeld said.
-- Lilly
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