- WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President
Bush warned Iraq on Friday that it would face "the severest consequences"
if it refused to adhere to the terms of a U.N. Security Council resolution
requiring Baghdad to disarm.
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- "The resolution approved today presents the Iraqi
regime with a test, a final test. Iraq must now without delay or negotiations
fully disarm," he said.
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- Shortly after the Security Council gave unanimous approval
to a resolution Bush called for on Sept. 12, the president used threatening
language against Iraq during an appearance at the White House, saying the
United States will lead a coalition to disarm Iraq if it does not cooperate.
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- Bush said Iraqi President Saddam Hussein must make no
attempt at negotiating the resolution's terms for allowing U.N. inspectors
back into the country.
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- "His cooperation must be prompt and unconditional
or he will face the severest consequences," said Bush, with Secretary
of State Colin Powell standing beside him in the Rose Garden.
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- The 15-0 vote was a major victory for Bush, giving him
international cover to carry out a tough policy against Baghdad if Saddam
fails to disarm. The president already has persuaded the U.S. Congress
to grant him authority to wage war if needed.
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- Bush gave no sign that he felt obligated to return to
the Security Council for approval of military action should he judge it
necessary.
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- The resolution leaves Washington free to attack Iraq
without a formal second U.N. resolution authorizing the use of force. But
it requires the Security Council to assess any serious violation that could
lead to war.
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- "The United States has agreed to discuss any material
breach with the Security Council, but without jeopardizing our freedom
of action to defend our country," Bush said.
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- DEBATE WON'T STOP US ACTION
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- A senior Bush administration official said the United
States would join any subsequent discussions with the Security Council
on whether Iraq was in defiance but would not let a debate stop Washington
from taking military action.
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- "Those discussions might produce another resolution
or might not. And while those discussions are taking place, and the United
States will be a part of those discussions, the president has not lost
any of his authority at some point to say, you know, 'I've got to act,
and who wants to act with us?"' the official said.
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- Bush urged the Security Council not to "lapse into
unproductive debates over whether specific instances of Iraqi noncompliance
are serious. Any Iraqi noncompliance is serious."
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- "If we are to avert war, all nations must continue
to pressure Saddam Hussein to accept this resolution and to comply with
his obligations," he said.
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- In keeping with his desire for an international consensus,
Bush did not mention the official U.S. policy of "regime change,"
instead emphasizing Saddam must disarm.
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- A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity
at a White House briefing, laid down a low threshold for finding Iraq guilty
of violating the resolution and said "we will know rather quickly
whether or not they are cooperating."
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- The unanimous vote, coming after eight weeks of deliberations
on the structure of the resolution, was in doubt until just before the
vote.
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- The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Negroponte,
got the word that Syria would vote yes just as he went into the Security
Council chamber.
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- "I think Syria just ultimately saw where their interests
were in this matter," said a senior U.S. official.
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- Secretary of State Colin Powell went through a blizzard
of negotiations over minute details of the language.
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- He got word from French Foreign Minister Dominique Villepin
of a French agreement on the meaning of the term "material breach"
last Saturday when Powell's mobile phone went off 20 minutes before walking
down the aisle for his daughter's wedding.
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- And on Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov called
Powell at 9 a.m. with an abrupt comment in Russian to say Moscow was on
board: "Khorosho, da (OK, yes)."
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