Key international support remains elusive, Bush defends pro-strike stance

28/09/2002| IslamWeb

HIGHLIGHTS: Russia, France & China Continue to Oppose Pre-emptive Strike on Iraq||Bush's War Effort also Faces Opposition on the Home Front Both on Street and Congressional Levels||US & British Envoys Due in Moscow to Lobby for Russian Support for Tough New UN Resolution on Iraq||Kremlin Remains Unconvinced of WashingtonLondon Claims of Baghdad-Qaeda Link||Iraq Skeptical Inspectors Would Perform Objectively When Allowed Back into Country|| STORY: US President George W. Bush fended off charges of war-mongering as France, Russia and China continued to oppose a preemptive strike on Iraq.

"I'm willing to give peace a chance to work. I want the United Nations to work," Bush told Republicans at a fundraiser Friday, as around 2,000 anti-war protesters gathered outside the event.

But, he cautioned that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein "must disarm like he said he would do... For the sake of peace -- for the sake of peace not only in his neighborhood, but in ours, he must disarm.

"And if he does not, it's his choice to make. It's his and the United Nations choice to make," Bush told his supporters, who paid up to 1,000 dollars each to attend the fundraising event for Republican candidates.

"Our last choice is to commit our troops to harm's way. But if we have to, to defend our freedoms, if we have to, the United States will lead a coalition and do so."

The protest was organized by a group called "Coloradans Against Bush's War on Iraq."

Placards screamed anti-war slogans including "How About A Regime Change In the US?," "Help End World Terror", "Impeach The Bush Gang," and "No Blood For Oil," while protesters chanted "No war for votes!"

Opposition Democrats also charge that disaster could result from Washington acting alone without the support of its key allies.

Likewise, Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji, speaking in Paris, warned Washington Friday against a military attack on Iraq: "Otherwise, the consequences will be incalculable."

And while Zhu urged Iraq to "cooperate unconditionally with the United Nations" he made it clear he preferred to "respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq."

"If arms inspections do not take place, if there is not clear proof and if there is no authorization from the Security Council, there cannot be a military attack on Iraq," Zhu said after talks with French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin.

US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Marc Grossman also held talks in Paris to seek French support for a new tough UN resolution to ensure Iraq disarms.

Bush spoke to French counterpart Jacques Chirac by telephone, but Chirac remained opposed to any UN resolution that provides for the automatic use of military force if Iraq fails to cooperate with UN demands.

Chirac said France favored a resolution that was "simple and firm, showing the unity and determination of the international community" to get weapons inspectors back into Iraq, according to his spokeswoman, Catherine Colonna.

As permanent members of the UN Security Council, France, Russia and China all have veto power on any UN resolution.

Grossman and Peter Ricketts, political director at the British Foreign Office, were due to arrive Saturday in Moscow for round two of the diplomatic offensive.

But Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said Friday there was no "clear proof" to back US and British claims of Iraq's weapons buildup. He also dismissed US charges that Iraq was linked to the al-Qaeda extremist network, something that Bush touted in one of three fundraising stops in the western United States on Friday.

Ivanov said delaying the departure of the UN weapons inspectors to Iraq would be an "unforgivable error."

Britain's dossier released this week on Iraq's alleged arsenal of weapons of mass destruction contained "no clear proof" of the accusations, Ivanov said.

"That is why Russia has worked for the rapid and unconditional return of weapons inspectors to Iraq and, in accordance with UN resolutions, it is these inspectors alone who must resolve the issue," he said.

According to sources in Paris, the US-British draft of a new UN resolution calls for a toughening of UN inspections in Iraq, which the United States and Britain accuse of secretly developing weapons of mass destruction.

It calls for possible military protection of weapons inspectors and an automatic right to use military force if Saddam drags his heels, the sources said.

France wants two resolutions with only the second mentioning the use of force after any inspectors' mission has failed.

In Baghdad, Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz vowed that the Iraqi people were ready to defend their country against a US strike to topple President Saddam Hussein's regime.

But he did not hold out high hopes for the new inspections team.

"In the past... the inspection and the inspectors were manipulated by the United States for its own political agenda against Iraq. That was a fact," he said.

"I cannot be sure that the new organisation will be fully fair and impartial and honest in its job," Aziz said.

The United States also kept up its propaganda attacks.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the swiftness of any US effort to remove Saddam from power will hinge on how quickly the Iraqi people grasp the chance to be "liberated."

Former president Bill Clinton joined the debate, telling NBC television the best way to proceed was "to get this UN resolution and unify the world, and I still think we have a chance to do this."

PHOTO CAPTION

U.S. President George W. Bush waves during a welcome ceremony in Flagstaff, Arizona, September 27, 2002. The president will return to his Central Texas ranch in Crawford for the weekend. On Friday, Bush, speaking in Flagstaff, vowed to bypass the United Nations and send in troops if the world body did not act. REUTERS/Larry Downing
- Sep 27 8:41 PM ET