Bush doesn't want resolution to 'tie his hands'

WASHINGTON -- President Bush criticized a proposed Senate compromise on his Iraq war resolution Tuesday, saying it would tie his hands. Congressional leaders intensified efforts to find common ground ahead of a potentially divisive Senate debate but said differences remained.

The administration reacted skeptically to a new agreement between Baghdad and United Nations arms inspectors. "We will not be satisfied with Iraqi half-truths or Iraqi compromises or Iraqi efforts to get us back into the same swamp," Secretary of State Colin Powell declared.

As the administration pressed its campaign for a strong U.N. resolution to disarm Baghdad, Bush challenged the Security Council to "show its backbone."

"We're just not going to accept something that is weak," Bush said.

Meanwhile, Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer brushed aside a congressional estimate that war with Iraq could cost U.S. taxpayers as much as $6 billion to $9 billion a month. The cost could be as little as "one bullet," Fleischer said, should the Iraqi people take initiative to depose Saddam Hussein themselves.

Bush summoned House members of both parties to the White House, and they emerged saying they were close to agreement. "They're down literally to the last few words," said Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo. Bush was to meet with top Senate and House leaders today.

The Senate could begin debate on the Iraq measure as early as today. The House is expected to debate next week.

However, if the measure gets bogged down in the Senate, the House -- where support for the president's position is stronger -- could wind up taking the lead, administration and GOP congressional aides suggested.

Approval likely

Both Democratic and Republican leaders said approval of a resolution authorizing Bush to use military force against Iraq appears likely, but that negotiations continued over wording of the final version.

"I would like very much to work out some agreed-to-language," said Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D. "We're not there yet."

Democrats and some moderate Republicans are resisting giving Bush a free hand, and want to put more emphasis on the U.N.'s role. They also want to emphasize disarming Baghdad over a change in regime.

Both sides suggested that Bush had the votes to prevail in both the Democratic-led Senate and the GOP-led House, however, and the main issue became whether he would make concessions to increase Democratic support.

An attempt at a compromise by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph Biden, D-Del., and Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, the panel's senior Republican, appeared to have considerable support.

But Bush suggested he couldn't accept it as written. "I don't want to get a resolution which ties my hands," Bush told reporters. But he said he would continue to work with Congress on the wording "and I'm confident we'll get something done."

Late Tuesday, Biden announced that his panel would meet on Wednesday morning to take up his and Lugar's proposed alternative version -- a move that could further complicate the Senate's schedule on the measure.

The Biden-Lugar proposal would encourage Bush to exhaust his diplomatic efforts at the U.N. before using force and would make clear that dismantling Iraq's weapons of mass destruction would be the primary reason for using force.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., said he was also working on a resolution to allow military action only in conjunction with a U.N. resolution. "I can't at this time support a go-it-alone approach," he said.

The announcement in Vienna, Austria, that U.N. inspectors reached agreement with Iraq over details of new inspections -- which Iraq said it expected to begin in two weeks -- drew expressions of caution from the United States.

The State Department said any inspections should be deferred until a U.N. resolution is approved. However, spokesman Richard Boucher said the Bush administration had no objection to inspectors making arrangements in advance.

At the U.N., Boucher said, the administration was continuing to work with other members of the Security Council to come up with a resolution that "makes clear the need for thorough and unfettered inspections and the need for consequences if Iraq refuses to cooperate."

The five permanent U.N. Security Council members met at the United Nations Tuesday to discuss key elements of the U.S.-British draft resolution.

The United States and Britain want authorization to use military force if Iraq doesn't comply. They face opposition from three veto-wielding council members -- Russia, France and China -- who oppose a resolution sanctioning military action at this point.

But a senior U.S. official told The Associated Press those three governments agreed that after nearly four years of no inspections, a new system must be worked out and it must include provisions for inspecting Saddam's palaces.

Under the U.S.-British proposal, Iraq would have seven days after adoption of the resolution to declare whether it would comply, and then 23 days to list all sites where weapons are stored, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.