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10 October 2002

Bush Says House Vote Sends "Clear Message" to Iraq: Disarm

(Resolution also tells U.N. Iraq threat must be confronted, he says)
(790)
By Wendy S. Ross
Washington File White House Correspondent
Washington -- President Bush says passage by the House of
Representatives of a joint resolution authorizing him to use military
force against the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq sends a clear message
to that regime to either disarm and comply with U.N. directives or be
forced to do so.
It also sends a message to the United Nations, he says, that the
threat of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction must be fully addressed.
"The House of Representatives has spoken clearly to the world and to
the United Nations Security Council: the gathering threat of Iraq must
be confronted fully and finally," the president said shortly after the
House voted on October 10. "Today's vote also sends a clear message to
the Iraqi regime: it must disarm and comply with all existing U.N.
resolutions, or it will be forced to comply. There are no other
options for the Iraqi regime. There can be no negotiations. The days
of Iraq acting as an outlaw state are coming to an end."
The president spoke after the House of Representatives approved by a
296-133 vote a joint resolution that endorses Bush's policy to work
with the United Nations if possible, or with only U.S. allies if
necessary, to disarm Saddam Hussein of his weapons of mass
destruction.
A majority of Democrats voted against the resolution even though their
House leader, Dick Gephardt, was one of its sponsors.
The Senate was expected to approve the resolution later in the day,
having rejected by a 75-25 vote an effort by opponents to delay a
final vote. Prospects for approval also were boosted when the proposed
measure picked up the vital support of the Senate's top Democrat,
Majority Leader Tom Daschle.
White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer told reporters Bush believes
that once the U.S. Congress has acted, it will "send a signal to the
United Nations and United Nations Security Council" that the president
and people of the United States "are united in the belief that a
strong resolution is the most effective way to keep the peace, and
that the United States and our allies are prepared to take action if
the United Nations will not," Fleischer said.
The press secretary emphasized however, that President Bush has not
decided to use force. The White House, Fleischer said, is continuing
to urge the United Nations Security Council to act on a single
resolution that spells out to Saddam Hussein what will happen if his
regime fails to comply with United Nations demands.
"The president has made no decisions about what the next step would
be. Clearly, we will continue to talk to the United Nations about the
inspection process. And that's where the matter currently stands,"
Fleischer said.
"The president thinks the more clearly the consequences are stated and
the more -- and the stronger they are, the better the chance of
keeping the peace because Saddam Hussein will know that this time, the
world is serious," Fleischer said.
Asked about tours Iraq is giving reporters of two sites suspected by
the United States of producing weapons of mass destruction, Fleischer
said it is hard for anyone but "a real independent expert, with the
proper equipment, to walk into a facility and have a clear
understanding of what it is that is either taking place there, used to
take place there, or may be taking place on another side of a wall
through which they cannot see."
"The best way to know what is inside those buildings is either through
intelligence, which I will not discuss, or through the return of
inspectors who have the authority to go into those buildings anytime,
anyplace, anywhere with any equipment and get their job done, he said.
The point is, he said, that these facilities "that we knew were for
the purpose of creation of mass destruction, have been destroyed, and
then these same facilities were rebuilt."
Asked about what type of government should replace that of Saddam
Hussein, Fleischer said "it's impossible to predict with certainty,"
but whatever comes next, "will be an improvement."
Bush, Fleischer explained, "has a universal faith in mankind that
mankind does not want to be governed by despots, that people are
capable of self-government around the world. That's particularly true
of a educated, relatively advanced nation like Iraq. No people choose
to have a leader who engages in the type of dictatorial, despotic,
tyrannical types of actions that Saddam Hussein has taken.
"Afghanistan has shown," Fleischer said, "that when despots are thrown
out, there are a great many good people who would like to take their
place and who can make for a better day for the people of that
country. That is the case with President Karzai of Afghanistan and
many other people -- participated in the Loya Jirga there."
(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:
http://usinfo.state.gov)