*EPF302 02/26/2003
Bush Repeats: "Saddam Hussein Will Be Disarmed, One Way or the Other"
(President to speak about his vision for Mideast February 26) (1340)

By Wendy S. Ross
Washington File White House Correspondent

Washington -- Iraq's Saddam Hussein is "a master of disguise and delay" who will say he's disarming, even after he has said he has no arms, President Bush said in remarks at the White House February 26.

The danger with Saddam "is that he can strike in the neighborhood and the danger ... is that he has got the willingness and capacity to train al-Qaeda type organizations and provide them with equipment to hurt Americans," Bush told the Latino Coalition, an organization of Hispanic business owners and professionals from across the United States.

Bush stressed that the United States will continue to work on the Iraqi problem "with our friends, people who understand the value of freedom. We will insist that the United Nations Resolution 1441 be adhered to in its fullest. After all, we want the United Nations to be a legitimate, effective body," Bush said.

But the president made clear that for the sake of peace, "Saddam Hussein will be disarmed, one way or the other."

Bush said the use of military force is his "absolute last option. ... It is the last alternative for the president. But the risk of doing nothing, the risk of assuming that Saddam Hussein will change, the risk of thinking and hoping for the best for the American people far outweighs the risk of committing troops, if we have to," Bush said.

"The choice is Saddam Hussein's to make. It's been his to make all along. He gets to choose between peace and war," said Bush.

"So in the days ahead, as we deal with this challenge facing our country, you need to know that the value of freedom and liberty will be at the forefront of a policy designed to make the world more peaceful, and a policy designed to protect the American people," Bush said.

Following his remarks to the Hispanic group in the Old Executive Office Building, adjacent to the White House, Bush met in the Oval Office with President Heydar Aliyev of Azerbaijan, a country some 250 miles northeast of Iraq, which has backed the U.S. call for Iraq's disarmament.

And in the early evening, Bush was to give a speech on Iraq and the Middle East at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative Washington think tank.

"[T]his will be a big-picture speech about the situation in Iraq," said White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer. "It will be a big picture piece about peace and disarmament. The president will talk in the speech about what the future may hold, not only for the people of Iraq, once liberated and allowed to become on their own, democratic; but also what it means for the security of the region, because the President believes that a free Iraq will lead to a more stable Mideast."

Asked about the consequences of an American-led occupation of a country in the Middle East, Fleischer said that President Bush "has made clear that in the event of hostilities in Iraq, the United States will stay for as long as necessary, but not a day longer. And therefore, the President continues to look at this as a situation where the people of Iraq are capable of governing Iraq. And that is the future of Iraq -- an Iraq governed by the Iraqis."

In the speech, Bush also is to discuss his plans for addressing the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people following a possible war, Fleischer said.

But in response to numerous reporters' questions, the White House Press Secretary would not give an estimate of what possible military action or future humanitarian aid would cost the United States.

"I'm not in a position to speculate what the number may be. At the appropriate time, and if the President makes a determination to use force, a request for the funding will, of course, be sent up to the Congress. And then it will be based on the latest information that is available. It is too soon to be able to have any type of reliable number to indicate right now," Fleischer said.

He added that the cost "will depend on a number of factors, many of them up to Saddam Hussein and to Saddam Hussein's henchmen. If Saddam Hussein and his henchmen ... don't follow their orders ... that can lead to one scenario. And so it is too soon to say with precision how much this war will cost."

But Fleischer did admit to reporters that February 25 President Bush had discussed the possible costs at a meeting with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Director of the Office of Management and Budget Mitch Daniels.

Fleischer also reported that Bush earlier in the day February 26 had phoned Hungary's Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy. "The two had a very good conversation, Hungary being a very close friend and ally of the United States. The President expressed his sympathy to the people of Hungary for the flood that has hit Hungary. And he also thanked the prime minister for his leadership and support, and President Bush noted the Hungarian Parliament's vote on February 24th to authorize the transit of U.S. equipment through Hungary," Fleischer said.

"The president expressed his determination to work through the Security Council and with Security Council members, but noted that time is running out before action needs to be taken to disarm Saddam Hussein.

"The president today also spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien. The main focus of the conversation was Iraq and the draft resolution on Iraq, as presented by the United States, Britain and Spain. The president has consulted several times with Prime Minister Chretien on Iraq, although Canada, an important ally in the war on terrorism, is not a U.N. Security Council member. The two leaders pledged to stay in close contact and to consult as the process moves forward." Fleischer said.

Asked about Canada's compromise proposal to set an end-of-March deadline for Iraq to comply with U.N. disarmament demands, Fleischer would only say that Bush "believes that the resolution that the United States, the UK, and Spain have proposed is the right way to go, and that's what he is urging action to be taken on."

The point President Bush is making "is that time is running out, and that this issue has to come to a conclusion, that the time is coming for Saddam Hussein to be disarmed. And that's the point the president has made," the press secretary said.

Asked about comments by France's Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin that war now in Iraq would be precipitous and illegitimate, Fleischer said "We will continue the course of the consultations and the diplomatic discussions with all the members on the Security Council. And France's position is known. President Bush has talked with President Chirac about it. And the process will continue until the day of the vote."

Fleischer added that President Bush "thinks that the most precipitous thing in the world would be to leave the illegitimate rulers of Iraq in position to have weapons of mass destruction that they could use against the American people or others in the region. That, to the president, is the most precipitous thing of all."

Fleischer also commented on the recent television interview of Saddam Hussein by CBS's Dan Rather, that was to be broadcast in the United States on the evening of February 26, not long after Bush speaks at the American Enterprise Institute.

"Dan Rather deserves to be congratulated for getting a serious journalistic interview with Saddam Hussein. However, we view what Saddam Hussein has said as propaganda and lies. And so the appropriate response is something that we will, of course, talk to CBS about, to see at what level and who could go out and respond to it. And that's a conversation we'll have with CBS," said Fleischer.

(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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