20 November 2002
Bush Renews Stern Warning to Saddam Hussein to Disarm
(President speaks in Prague on eve of NATO summit) (960) By Ralph Dannheisser Washington File Staff Correspondent Prague -- President Bush renewed his stern warning to Saddam Hussein to relinquish his weapons of mass destruction in an address to a youth group here November 20, just a day before the start of a historic NATO summit that is expected to chart a new course for the alliance while adding seven more countries to membership. With U.N. inspectors about to resume their work in Iraq under a new Security Council resolution, Bush appeared to leave no room for Hussein to deny that he has such weapons stockpiled. "We now call an end to that game of deception and deceit and denial," he told young people at the Atlantic Student Summit held in conjunction with the historic NATO session. "Saddam Hussein has been given a very short time to declare completely and truthfully his arsenal of terror," Bush said. "Should he again deny that this arsenal exists, he will have entered his final stage with a lie, and deception this time will not be tolerated. "Delay and defiance will invite the severest of consequences," he declared. Speaking against the background of a pledge by Iraq to cooperate with U.N. inspectors, Bush said, "We've heard these pledges before and seen them violated time and time again." He repeated his often-stated determination that Hussein will be disarmed. "Voluntarily or by force, that goal will be achieved," Bush vowed. In what was widely seen as a reference to the qualms expressed by some NATO nations over possible military action against Iraq -- though he did not directly relate his remarks to that situation -- Bush declared that "the world needs the nations of this continent to be active in the defense of freedom, not inward-looking or isolated by indifference." Again, the president asserted, "International stability must be actively defended, and all nations that benefit from that stability have a duty to help. In this noble work, America and the strong democracies of Europe need each other, each playing our full and responsible role." Looking ahead to the NATO summit November 21, he said the addition of several new members to the 19-member alliance marks the occasion as "a decisive moment, and historic moment." While it has not been officially announced, it is all but certain that Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Romania will be admitted to membership. And Bush appeared to leave the door open to later membership for three applicants not expected to gain membership in this round when he said "the United States strongly support(s) the enlargement of NATO, now and in the future." He stressed that "the standards for membership are high," in terms of demonstrated political, economic and military reforms. Albania, Macedonia and Croatia are the three applicants not expected to receive invitations at this year's meeting. Bush also alluded again to another key thrust of the summit: NATO's need to develop new, coordinated, readily deployable military capabilities to deal with the new 21st century threats that have come to the fore now that "the Soviet Union is gone" and Russia is a friend of the West. What is needed are "more special operations forces, better precision strike capabilities, and more modern command structures," and those elements -- in what is a departure for NATO -- "must be organized to operate outside of Europe," he said. The president's speech, something of a preview of what he is likely to tell leaders of fellow NATO nations at their summit session, was his only major public appearance of a day on which he held a number of one-on-one meetings with officials of the alliance and member governments. He started his first full day in Prague by meeting with the Czech Republic's soon-to-retire president, Vaclav Havel, at the historic Prague Castle, overlooking the city. Following that meeting, he called on NATO allies to form a "coalition of the willing" to force Iraqi disarmament. Later on he met individually with Czech Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer of Turkey and Lord George Robertson, secretary general of NATO. Bilateral meetings were scheduled for November 21 with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and French President Jacques Chirac -- but not with President Gerhard Schroeder of Germany, who has voiced strong opposition to a military attack on Iraq. Asked about that omission at a press briefing, a senior administration official said that, while no bilateral session has been planned, "the president and Chancellor Schroeder will certainly be seeing each other quite a bit over the next few days" at dinners and meetings. He added that the United States has been maintaining "an active dialogue with Germany and the German leader." The president's speech had originally been scheduled to be given at the Radio Free Europe headquarters in downtown Prague, but was shifted to the heavily guarded Prague Hilton hotel, on the periphery of the downtown area, out of safety concerns. A major police presence was obvious throughout the city: some 12,000 police officers were augmented by 2,200 armed soldiers and special antiterrorist units, to deal with expected protest demonstrations and to protect the assembled presidents and prime ministers from any possible terrorist activity. Both U.S. and Czech fighter jets patrolled the skies above the city. Demonstrations early in the day were small and nonviolent, though a larger protest was planned for later in the day near Prague Castle, where the assembled officials were to dine. While most considered the presence of the summit a net plus for Prague, it did shut down much of normal life in the city. Schools near conference sites were closed for the duration of the conference, families were encouraged to go to the country homes that many Prague residents have, and restaurants and shops complained of a severe slowdown in business. (The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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