Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=3/16/03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=BUSH IRAQ OVERNIGHTER (L)

NUMBER=2-300830

BYLINE= PAULA WOLFSON

DATELINE= WHITE HOUSE

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein now has less than 48 hours to leave his country or face U-S-led military action. V-O-A's Paula Wolfson reports President Bush issued the ultimatum in a nationally broadcast address Monday night.

TEXT: This was the speech that officially stopped the diplomatic clock and began the countdown to possible war. President Bush said Saddam Hussein and his family must leave Iraq.

///BUSH ACT///

Their refusal to do so will result in military conflict commenced at a time of our choosing.

////END ACT///

With a quarter of a million troops poised on the borders of Iraq, President Bush said the security of the world demands action to disarm the Iraqi regime.

///BUSH ACT///

Should Saddam Hussein choose confrontation, the American people can know that every measure has been taken to avoid war and every measure will be taken to win it.

///END ACT///

The president expressed his disappointment in the United Nations, where key Security Council members opposed a U-S backed resolution calling for enforcement of disarmament demands. That resolution was not submitted to a vote in the face of a French veto threat. And while the president did not mention France by name, his meaning was clear.

///BUSH ACT///

Some permanent members of the Security Council have publicly announced they will veto any resolution that compels the disarmament of Iraq. These governments share our assessment of the danger, but not our resolve to meet it.

///END ACT///

He said the Security Council has not lived up to its responsibilities, so the United States and its allies will meet the challenge. Mr. Bush brushed aside the notion that he does not have the authority to order military action to disarm Iraq, citing a series of past U-N disarmament resolutions.

///BUSH ACT///

This is not a question of authority. It is a question of will.

///END ACT///

Speaking slowly and with determination, the president issued a warning to the Iraqi military, telling Saddam Hussein's forces not to fight for a "dying regime."

///BUSH ACT///

In any conflict, your fate will depend on your actions. Do not destroy oil wells, a source of wealth that belongs to the Iraqi people. Do not obey any command to use weapons of mass destruction against anyone, including the Iraqi people.

///END ACT///

Mr. Bush assured the men, women and children of Iraq that they will soon live in a free country, and he renewed promises of aid and support.

///BUSH ACT///

In a free Iraq there will be no more wars of aggression against your neighbors, no more poison factories, no more executions of dissidents, no more torture chambers or rape rooms. The tyrant will soon be gone. The day of your liberation is near.

///END ACT///

President Bush has no public events on his schedule today (Tuesday). And he is expected to stay out of sight until the 48 hour deadline expires Wednesday evening, Washington time. Should the Iraqi leader refuse exile, the next words from Mr. Bush in public could be the announcement that military action has begun. (signed)

NEB/PW/MAR