*EPF402 11/07/2002
Bush: If Iraq Does Not Disarm, U.S., Friends Will Move to Do Job
(Predicts UNSC will vote November 8 on Iraq resolution) (740)

By Wendy S. Ross
Washington File White House Correspondent

Washington -- If Saddam Hussein does not disarm Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction as required by the United Nations, then for the sake of peace in the world, the United States and its friends "will move swiftly to do the job," President Bush said November 7.

Speaking at the White House at his first solo news conference in many months, Bush said if it becomes necessary, "the United States, with friends, will move swiftly with force to do the job. You don't have to worry about that. We will do...what it takes militarily to succeed."

Bush said he "is optimistic" that the United Nations Security Council will vote November 8 on the draft resolution on Iraq disarmament presented to it November 6 by the United States and Great Britain.

"The resolution we put down," Bush said, "is a tough new resolution," that talks about "material breach" and inspections and serious consequences if Saddam Hussein continues to defy the world and not disarm.

Bush said he had talked by phone earlier in the day about Iraq with Russia's President Vladimir Putin and France's President Jacques Chirac and said he is "optimistic we'll get the resolution vote tomorrow.

"The only way, in my judgment, to deal with Saddam Hussein is to bring the international community together to convince him to disarm," said Bush.

"But if he's not going to disarm, we'll disarm him, in order to make the world a more peaceful place. And some people aren't going to like that, I understand. But some people won't like it if he ends up with a nuclear weapon and uses it. We have an obligation to lead, and I intend to assume that obligation, to make the world more peaceful.

"War is not my first choice," Bush said, "it's my last choice. But nevertheless, it is an option in order to make the world a more peaceful place."

Bush assured the people of Iraq that the United States has no intention of conquering anybody. The Iraqi people, he said, "can have a better life than the one they have now."

He also warned Iraqi generals that there will be consequences for their behavior.

"Should they choose, if force is necessary, to behave in a way that endangers the lives of their own citizens, as well as citizens in the neighborhood, there will be a consequence. They will be held to account," Bush said.

Asked about why his policy towards Iraq is different from his policy towards North Korea, Bush said that in the war against terrorism "each threat requires a different type of response. You've heard my strategy on dealing with Iraq. I've been very clear on the strategy all along. And tomorrow it looks like part of that strategy is coming to fruition.

"With North Korea, we're taking a different strategy initially, and it's this: that we're going to work with countries in the neighborhood to convince North Korea that it is not in the world's interests that they develop a nuclear weapon through highly enriched uranium."

Discussing the November 5 midterm elections, Bush refused to take credit for how well the Republican Party did, saying it was the candidates themselves who deserve the credit.

In those elections the Republican party kept control of the House of Representatives and gained control of the Senate in the new 108th Congress that convenes in early January 2003.

Bush said he wants the current 107th Congress, when it returns to Washington for its post-election conclusion, to approve legislation setting up in the federal government a Department of Homeland Security as well as legislation providing for government payment of insurance claims arising from terrorist attacks.

"This will spur construction and create thousands of good hard-hat jobs that are currently on hold because projects without insurance cannot be built," he said.

Asked if he sees the midterm election results as a mandate for his programs, Bush responded that "the way to look at this election is to say the people want something done. They see the risks are high, the risk of being able to find a job or the risk of keeping the homeland secure. And they want people to come together to work on it, and that's what I intend to do."

Bush also told reporters that if he decides to run for a second term as president, he would again choose current Vice President Dick Cheney as his running mate, and is "confident" Cheney would agree to be on the ticket.

(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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