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Bush to seek approval for war
By Diego Ibarguen and Jodi Enda
 Media Credit: CHUCK KENNEDY/KRT
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Knight Ridder Newspapers
WASHINGTON — President Bush said Wednesday he would seek approval from Congress before taking military action against Saddam Hussein and would make his case for removing the Iraqi leader in a speech next week at the United Nations.
Calling Saddam a “serious threat,” Bush said doing nothing about Iraq is “not an option for the United States.”
Bush met for nearly an hour Wednesday with about two dozen leading members of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, starting what he called an “open dialogue . . . about our future and how best to deal with it.” The debate over how to proceed on Iraq, he said, is one that “the American people must hear, must understand.”
The president’s comments left no doubt that his drive to deal decisively with Saddam is now moving into higher gear and likely will dominate public affairs in the United States and globally. Bush expects to press Congress to vote on his Iraq plans before lawmakers adjourn Oct. 4 to campaign for November’s elections, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said.
Bush also announced he is ready to begin consulting other global leaders about Iraq.
The president will host British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the only world leader outside Israel who has backed Bush on Iraq without reservation, at the Camp David, Md., presidential retreat on Saturday. He will discuss Iraq and other topics with Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien on Monday in Detroit.
Bush said in the meantime he would be “on the phone to leaders of China and Russia and France,” all permanent members of the U.N. Security Council. Many world leaders who have voiced reservations about Bush’s plans for Iraq have called for him to seek authorization from the Security Council before launching any military strike.
Bush said he would spell out why he believes Saddam threatens world peace in a speech to the United Nations next Thursday, one day after the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
“I will first remind the United Nations that for 11 long years, Saddam Hussein has side-stepped, crawfished, wheedled out of any agreement he had made not to . . . develop weapons of mass destruction,” Bush said, adding he will “call upon the world to recognize that he is stiffing the world.
“And I will lay out and I will talk about ways to make sure that he fulfills his obligations.”
The president also promised “at the appropriate time, this administration will go to Congress to seek approval . . . necessary to deal with this threat.” He said members of the administration would participate fully in congressional hearings on the issue.
Lawmakers welcomed Bush’s comments, though some made clear they are not yet ready to endorse U.S. military action against Iraq.
Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said Bush “began to make his case to us today, and we’re hoping for more information and greater clarity in the days and weeks ahead.”
But Daschle said no new information about the precise nature of the Iraqi threat came from the meeting, and he is not convinced that military action is the only course available.
“I don’t think that the case has been made yet, but I think that over time it is possible that he could show us evidence and provide information compelling enough to expect the Congress, on a bipartisan basis, to support actions,” Daschle said as he left the White House.
Daschle and other lawmakers raised many questions, among them:
* What new information does the administration have to prove Saddam poses a more urgent threat now than he has since his defeat in the 1991 Gulf War?
* How much might a war against Iraq cost? What kind of regime would follow Saddam’s ouster?
* Would U.S. troops have to remain as an occupation force, and if so, how long?
* What role would U.S. allies play?
“This shouldn’t be a unilateral action, nor should it be a unilateral U.S. financial responsibility,” Daschle said later at the Capitol.
House Majority Whip Tom DeLay, R-Texas, who views war as the only acceptable option, said the president gave no indication he would seek a resolution of support from the United Nations.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Wednesday that pushing to get U.N. weapons inspectors back into Iraq for unconditional inspections might help build international backing for later military action against Saddam’s regime if Saddam prevents them from doing their work.
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