President George Bush warned on Saturday of the ”massive and sudden horror” that Iraq could inflict if not disarmed, sharpening his case against Saddam Hussein in advance of a major speech on Monday.
Bush was working this weekend on a fifth draft of the address to be delivered in Cincinnati, putting the finishing touches on what will likely be a nationally televised address. The president and his aides were working on the speech from the Bush family home in Maine.
Bush is trying to build public support for a congressional resolution demanding that Saddam disarm or face US-led military action. He won agreement last week with a bipartisan group of House leaders and the Senate is expected to give him war-making authority, too, though many Democrats are still sceptical.
Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, a South Dakota Democrat, said he believes the House resolution gives Bush too much latitude to wage war.
”The resolution adopted by the leaders … simply provides the use-of-force resolution and makes reference to 16 UN articles” that Saddam is accused of defying, Daschle said.
”Well, one of those articles is, simply, a return of Kuwaiti prisoners. Well, do we want to use use-of-force in a pre-emptive strike to return Kuwaiti prisoners? I don’t think so,” the senator said in a CNN interview broadcast on Saturday.
He also said he was concerned about the implications of striking another nation pre-emptively, whether there is enough evidence that Iraq poses an imminent threat and the difficulties of rebuilding Iraq after a military attack.
Bush, using his second straight radio address to discuss Iraq, said he wants to avoid war but Saddam may force the issue.
”We hope that Iraq complies with the world’s demands,” he said… If, however, the Iraqi regime persists in its defiance, the use of force may become unavoidable. Delay, indecision, and inaction are not options for America, because they could lead to massive and sudden horror.”
A new report by US intelligence agencies backed the
administration’s contention that Iraq had significant caches of dangerous weapons despite numerous international searches.
The agencies said Iraq has biological and chemical weapons and some long-range missiles, but probably no nuclear weapons.
”If left unchecked, it probably will have a nuclear weapon during this decade,” the unclassified report concluded. – Sapa