Bush steps up war of words over weapons

WASHINGTON - With the drumbeat of war growing unmistakably louder, President George W. Bush yesterday laid down a tight diplomatic timetable to muster international support for his plans to overthrow Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and lay down some type of ultimatum to him in the United Nations Security Council.

The diplomatic offensive will begin when British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Bush's closest ally, flies out to the presidential retreat at Camp David this weekend for several hours of consultations that will culminate with a speech to the United Nations next Friday. The President said he would speak in the meantime to the leaders of China, Russia, France and Canada.

As he announced his timetable at the White House, Bush effectively conceded for the first time that the United States cannot launch a pre-emptive war against Iraq on its own and must state its case for action more clearly. But he also hurled a volley of colourfully unforgiving rhetoric against Saddam, saying it was time for everyone to recognise that the Iraqi leader was "stiffing the world".

"Saddam Hussein has side-stepped, crawfished, wheedled out of any agreement he had made not to harbour, not to develop weapons of mass destruction," he said, resorting to his beloved Texas vernacular along with a touch of his trademark verbal confusion.

"Saddam Hussein is a serious threat. He is a significant problem. And it's something this country must deal with," the President added. "And today the process starts."

Bush spoke after consulting with senior congressional leaders, many of whom, especially those in the President's own Republican Party, have insisted on being told more clearly the full implications of a military offensive.

The President promised not to act without congressional approval, something he is not likely to have to work too hard to get.

He also indicated he wanted the UN to be on board as well, saying he would lay out his full case in his speech there on September 12.

Administration officials, speaking off the record, said Bush was considering a UN Security Council resolution setting a deadline for Iraq to open its weapons sites to unfettered inspection. To prevent China or Russia vetoing the resolution, any threat of punitive action would be implied, not explicit.

The US is considering a strategy of "coercive inspections" of Iraq's weapons sites by threatening force if Saddam bars UN arms inspectors from entering the sites, a US official confirmed. The idea is to win support from hawks who assume Saddam would refuse to let inspectors in and give Washington grounds for an attack, and the doves who want fresh arms inspections before force is used.

The US official confirmed an earlier report in the Los Angeles Times that said "coercive inspections" were under review.

If inspectors were turned away from a site suspected of producing or hiding weapons of mass destruction, the newspaper said, under one provision being considered foreign troops could shoot their way in.

How to approach the UN is likely to be high on the agenda when Blair makes his lightning trip to the US.

"This is not a council of war, no maps will be unrolled," a British source said.

The two leaders will have four hours together at Camp David, much of which will be spent in the absence of officials.

And, perhaps ominously for the Iraqi regime, the last time Blair flew to the President's retreat in Maryland was in November last year when the two leaders discussed details of ousting the Taleban regime in Afghanistan.

- INDEPENDENT, REUTERS

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