18 February 2003
Bush Says Protests Won't Change His Iraq Policy
(Administration working on new U.N. resolution to enforce Resolution 1441) (980) By Wendy S. Ross Washington File White House Correspondent Washington -- President Bush says war with Iraq is his last choice, but it's preferable to doing nothing if Saddam Hussein will not disarm his country of weapons of mass destruction as required by the United Nations. "War is my last choice, but the risk of doing nothing is even a worse option, as far as I'm concerned," Bush told reporters at the White House February 18 following the swearing in of William Donaldson as the new Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. "I owe it to the American people to secure this country. I will do so," Bush said. Asked to comment on the weekend worldwide rallies for peace, Bush made clear that in democracies people are allowed to express their opinion. "Evidently some in the world don't view Saddam as a risk to peace. I respectfully disagree." Bush also said the administration will continue to work with other members of the United Nations Security Council on a new resolution to follow up on Resolution 1441 on Iraqi disarmament approved unanimously by the council in November. "We don't need a second resolution," Bush said. "It's clear this guy could even care less about the first resolution. He's in total defiance of 1441." But he said the United States wants to work with friends and allies to see if a second resolution can be concluded. The president said it is clear that Saddam Hussein is stalling in hopes that the coalition against him will fall apart, but Bush said he is determined to hold the Iraqi leader to account -- both to protect Americans and to demonstrate the usefulness and effectiveness of the United Nations. The best way to deal with threats from terrorists is with effective international organizations, he said. "[I]f the United Nations can't enforce its own resolutions ... it says something about its utility as we head into the future." White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, asked about the weekend protests, told reporters that President Bush respects the protestors, "but he thinks that their position is wrong, that the real threat to peace is Saddam Hussein and his possession of weapons of mass destruction." Bush "approaches all these issues of opposition in a matter of, one, the importance of standing on principle and, two, respecting those who disagree, but continuing to lead if he thinks it will lead to peace," Fleischer said. Fleischer also said that the United States may offer a new U.N. resolution on Iraq this week or next week. The timing remains to be determined, he said. "We continue to consult with allies about the exact moment that is most propitious to move forward. It could be this week; it could be next." "I think it's going to be a relatively simple and straightforward resolution," he said. "The key thing that the President wants to have in there is that it enforces resolution 1441, making clear that final meant final and serious consequences means serious consequences," Fleischer said. Fleischer reminded reporters that Resolution 1441 "said this is a final chance. And now the European Union has said this is a final chance. And unless the words 'final' are so flexible that they have no meaning, this is Saddam Hussein's final chance, per the United Nations Security Council and per the European Union. And that's an important statement, if it has meaning," Fleischer said. Asked if Bush is getting a little frustrated with all the discussion on Iraq, Fleischer said "the President understands when he went to the United Nations last fall, he set this path in motion. If the President wanted to act unilaterally, the United States could have acted unilaterally last fall. And this was a decision President Bush made to bring the United Nations into this, front and center. And that is where we remain. "Now, the question is, is the United Nations getting uncomfortable seeing threats to peace they do not control. Is the United Nations getting uncomfortable with the fact that the military mission to remove Slobodan Milosevic had to be done outside the United Nations Security Council auspices, because the United Nations Security Council could not face up to the threats. These are the issues the United Nations Security Council has to ask itself, are they comfortable with the role the Security Council is playing in the world, when they were set up, by design, to replace the League of Nations, so they didn't meet the same fate of an organization of international states that was not up to the challenge or up to the task. "The history in Kosovo is not a good one for the United Nations Security Council. The President hopes that won't be repeated," Fleischer said. But with or without a second resolution, "this will be a rather large coalition that will go in to disarm Saddam Hussein," if that is necessary, the press secretary said. And Fleischer said that following any military action, President Bush "has stated that the United States will be committed to the long-term stability of Iraq, and that we will stay in Iraq as long as necessary -- not one day longer, but as long as necessary to make certain that the transition in Iraq is a transition to a unified and peaceful Iraq. "The costs of leaving Saddam Hussein in power far exceed the cost of anything that might involve the disarmament and the reconstruction of Iraq. I don't think it will be very long down the road when Iraq does settle in its place as a different type of nation, a nation without sanctions and a nation that can become a harbinger of good things in the Middle East," Fleischer said. (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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