Bush - U.N. must act today on Iraq

SERGIO BARRENCHEA * Associated Press

After a diplomatic conference on how to disarm Iraq, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, left, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, center, and President Bush faced reporters at the Lajes Field air base on the island of Terceira in the Azores on Sunday.By Ron Fournier ~ The Associated Press

LAJES, Azores Islands -- On the brink of war, President Bush and summit partners from Britain and Spain gave the United Nations a deadline of today to endorse the use of force to compel Iraq's immediate disarmament.

Monday "is a moment of truth for the world," said Bush, commander-in-chief of 250,000 troops ringing Iraq and ready to act with or without U.N. approval. He spoke Sunday after an Atlantic island summit with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar.

Though the leaders pledged to seek compromise with U.N. foes through the night and all day Monday, they offered little hope of a diplomatic breakthrough. Even if a compromise plan somehow secured approval of a U.S.-Britain-Spain resolution at the U.N., it would delay military action only a week or so, officials said.

Bush suggested the resolution might not even be put to a vote.

"If Saddam refuses even now to cooperate fully with the United Nations, he brings on himself the serious consequences," the leaders said in a joint statement. They went on to list their plans for Iraq after hostilities, including repairing damage that might be caused by Saddam Hussein and preserving oil and other natural assets.

The leaders gathered with more than 250,000 troops, a naval armada and an estimated 1,000 combat aircraft positioned in the Persian Gulf area, an American-led force ready to strike if and when the president gives the word.

"The Iraqi regime will disarm itself or the Iraqi regime will be disarmed by force," Bush said.

Two hours of talks

The summit, held at a U.S. military base on this dot in the eastern Atlantic, amounted to less than two hours of talks. No more was needed, U.S. officials said, because the conclusion was preordained.

Even as they flew to a meeting billed as a last-ditch bid at diplomacy, Bush and his advisers worked on a major war address that he could deliver as early as tonight. The speech would give Saddam a final ultimatum to disarm or face war, probably within days, senior officials said.

At a post-summit news conference, Bush urged other nations to support "the immediate and unconditional disarmament" of Iraq.

France, Germany and Russia have opposed an additional United Nations resolution to set an ultimatum for the Iraqi leader to disarm -- and the French have threatened to veto it. Efforts to win the votes of uncommitted nations at the U.N. Security Council have faltered in recent days.

Blair, speaking with reporters on his plane en route to London, said British diplomats would work through the night to try to persuade France to lift its veto threat of a war resolution.

En route back to Washington, Bush spoke by telephone with Australian Prime Minister John Howard and Secretary of State Colin Powell, White House officials said after the president landed.

Diplomats uncertain

At the United Nations, diplomats said it was unclear exactly what the United States, Britain and Spain wanted from the Security Council today. France, unmoved by the summit, planned to push ahead with its proposal, a 30-day timetable for Iraq to meet disarmament tasks that would be set by chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix. The plan doesn't include an ultimatum.

Blair, under the most domestic pressure to get U.N. backing, accused the resolution's opponents of weakening the alliance against Saddam.

"I have to say that I really believe that had we given that strong message some time ago, Saddam might have realized that the games had to stop," the prime minister said.

Aznar, the prime minister of Spain, where millions of protesters staged rallies Friday, said he was not dissuaded by dissent.

"We are well aware of the international world public opinion, of its concern, and we are also very well aware of our responsibilities and obligations," Aznar said.

Portugal Prime Minister Jose Durao Barroso called the Azores summit "the last chance of a political solution. It may be a small chance, but if there is only one chance in a million it's worth trying this opportunity."

The president laid the choice at Saddam's feet.

"The decision is his to make. It's been his to make all along, as to whether or not there's the use of military," the president said. "He got to decide whether he's going to disarm, and he didn't. He can decide whether he wants to leave the country."

Those were the only two alternatives to war offered by Bush, and neither was likely to occur, officials said.

In a flash of frustration, Bush jumped in to field a question posed to Aznar about a new U.N. resolution.

"We do have a resolution," the president snapped. Punching the air with his fist, he referred to last fall's unanimous vote to disarm Iraq and said: "The United Nations Security Council looked at the issue four and a half months ago and voted unanimously to say, 'Disarm immediately and unconditionally, and if you don't, there are going to be serious consequences.' The world has spoken, and it did in a unified voice."

Then he apologized to Aznar for answering the question.

Later, Bush said the U.N. "didn't do its job" to stop bloodshed in Rwanda or Kosovo. "We hope tomorrow the U.N. will do its job. If not, all of us need to step back and try to figure out how to make the U.N. work better, as we head into the 21st century."