*EPF306 03/19/2003
As Deadline Expires, U.S. Prepares for Military Action
(Iraqis urged not to obey orders, not to engage in conflict) (930)

By Wendy S. Ross and Alicia K. Langley
Washington File White House Correspondents

Washington -- In the final hours before the 48-hour deadline to Saddam Hussein was to expire at 0100 GMT March 20, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer said the White House had little hope that the dictator would leave Iraq.

"At 8 o'clock tonight, the American people will know Saddam Hussein has committed his final act of defiance," Fleischer told reporters. "With just a short amount of time to go before the deadline, we have not received, unfortunately, any indication from Saddam Hussein that he intends to leave the country."

Fleischer told reporters to "assume you will not have a lot of notification prior to the speech" that Bush will make notifying the nation and the world that military action has begun.

The reason for this, Fleischer said, is "to maintain as much tactical secrecy as possible."

Fleischer said the president was spending the day "working with the military planners, taking last-minute looks at the various plans of the military planners, and allowing the time that he has given to pass."

In a televised speech to the nation and the world on the evening of March 17, Bush told Saddam Hussein he and his two sons had 48 hours to leave Iraq if they wished to avoid military conflict.

"And if force is used, the president will authorize force, knowing that it was in the cause of peace to disarm Saddam Hussein from using his weapons of mass destruction, so that Saddam Hussein cannot use weapons of mass destruction later at a time and place of Saddam's choosing, which would leave us at the most vulnerable," Fleischer said.

He pointed out that "we seem to have gone from a debate at the United Nations process where people said, 'you haven't proved he has weapons of mass destruction, the inspectors haven't been able to find where Saddam is hiding them,' to now rampant speculation that Saddam Hussein has chemical, biological weapons that he is getting ready to unleash on American forces."

"That's the very point," Fleischer said. "If he has them, the world cannot afford to let Saddam pick who he would use them on and when he would use them, especially if the world was not prepared to take counter-measures."

Asked to predict how long the military action would take, Fleischer said "It's impossible to say. It will be as long as is necessary to do the job right, to provide the security atmosphere for Iraqis to govern their own country. It will be as long as is necessary, but not a day longer."

Fleischer reported that in the morning of March 19 Bush had his regular intelligence briefings, met with the National Security Council, and met with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who briefed him on the latest preparations for military operations.

The previous evening, the White House sent a document to Congress which explains the legal justifications for taking military action in Iraq, a step that was required by a resolution passed by Congress last fall.

"The resolution states that prior to hostilities or within 48 hours after hostilities, these determinations must be made from a legal point of view," Fleischer said.

"These are the determinations that reliance on the United States diplomatic and other peaceful means alone will not adequately protect the national security of the United States continuing against the threat posed by Iraq nor likely lead to enforcement of United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq," Fleischer told reporters.

"Clearly, one of the major concerns we have is that we are up against an enemy who may use chemical or biological weapons," Fleischer told reporters. "This is why there have been so many efforts made to reach out to the Iraqi generals and leaders to tell them, 'don't obey orders to use weapons of mass destruction'..."

The U.S. military has been sending messages through pamphlets to both the Iraqi public and military, he said. "The message is, 'you should not engage in conflict, you should not conduct yourselves in a hostile manner, you should not obey orders.'"

Fleischer said President Bush's message to Iraqi forces is, "this is not your war. Don't follow the orders of the regime."

"The Iraqi people are the innocents who are caught in between, and the president would very much like to see the Iraqi people save their lives, the Iraqi military save their lives by laying down their arms and by not following their orders," Fleischer added.

President Bush made a morning phone call to British Prime Minister Tony Blair, congratulating him on his victory in a vote by the British Parliament.

"The president is very pleased that the Parliament of the United Kingdom has demonstrated its strong support for Prime Minister Blair, Prime Minister Blair's leadership, Prime Minister Blair's efforts to disarm Saddam Hussein to protect peace," Fleischer said. Bush and Blair also consulted with one another on the road map to peace in the Middle East.

In what the White House called an "important development" required for efforts toward that peace, the Palestinian parliament formally established the position of prime minister. Fleischer said President Bush is "pleased with the internal progress that is being made in terms of the Palestinians seeking internal reforms." He said the next step would be the acceptance of the position by candidate Mahmoud Abbas or the confirmation.

(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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