Military

LAJES FIELD, Azores, (USAFENS) - President George W. Bush flew here March 16 for a summit with three allies marking an historical chapter in Lajes history on the eve of a possible war with Iraq.

The meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar and Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Durao Barroso was billed as the last opportunity for a diplomatic solution to disarming Saddam Hussein.

During a joint press conference, held immediately after their brief meeting, the allied leaders spoke in unison, as President Bush said March 17, "is a moment of truth for the world.  The day that we will determine whether or not diplomacy can work."

To cover the historical meeting, more than 375 print and broadcast reporters representing 25 media outlets from eight countries converged on Terceira - a tiny 11- by 18-mile island with one television branch office and two small newspapers.

Blair told reporters the leaders have been working hard for the past four and a half months to get Hussein to fully cooperate with Resolution 1441 but have reached an impasse.

"So now we have reached the point of decision, and we make a final appeal for there to be that strong, unified message on behalf of the international community that lays down a clear ultimatum to Saddam that authorizes force if he continues to defy the will of the whole international community," Blair said. "We will do all we can, in the short time that remains, to make a final round of contacts and see whether there is a way through this impasse. But we are in the final stages, because after 12 years of failing to disarm him, now is the time when we have to decide."

The short-notice meeting was historically significant, not only for what might happen in the days and weeks to come, but also for what's happened in the past.

"On this very day 15 years ago, Saddam Hussein launched a chemical weapons attack on the Iraqi village of Halabja," the president said. "With a single order, the Iraqi regime killed thousands of men, women and children, without mercy and without shame."

The president said Resolution 1441 was supposed to be the last resolution on Iraq. If Hussein failed to comply, he would suffer serious consequences.

"That resolution was passed unanimously and its logic is inescapable," Bush said. "The Iraqi regime will disarm itself or the Iraqi regime will be disarmed by force.

"Saddam Hussein can leave the country if he's interested in peace," he continued. "The decision is his to make. It had been his to make all along as to whether or not there's the use of the military."

The meeting here in the Azores, explained Barroso, shows the importance of transatlantic relations and solidarity among the countries.

"It's important that we met here, in a European country, in Portugal, in this territory of Azores that is halfway between the continent of Europe and the continent of America," he said. "It's not only logistically convenient, it has a special political meaning - the beautiful meaning of our friendship and our commitment to our shared values."

On that note, Aznar said, "We all said before we came here that we were not coming to the Azores to make a declaration of war." He added that the group was "continuing to make this effort to working to achieve the greatest possible agreement and for international law to be respected and for United Nations resolutions to be respected."

The last meeting of world leaders at Lajes was in 1971 when then President Richard Nixon, President of France Georges Pompidou and Portuguese Prime Minister Marcelo Caetano met here to discuss international monetary issues, according to 65th Air Base Wing Historian Tech. Sgt. Roger Alves.