Guerra
Enviado: 16/3/2003 20:37LAJES, the Azores (CNN) -- President Bush said Sunday the opportunity for a diplomatic solution to the confrontation with Iraq would end Monday, calling it "a moment of truth for the world."
Bush said he hopes the United Nations "will do its job," but warned that France's threatened veto of any U.N. resolution to authorize force means that "cards have been played."
Bush made his comments after a brief summit in the Azores with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar. A British official had described the meeting as the "last chance for diplomacy."
"No one is pretending things are other than difficult," the British official said.
Frustrated by opposition to their hard-line stance on Iraqi disarmament, the architects of the "coalition of the willing" converged on Terceira, an island of the Portuguese Azores in the Atlantic Ocean, to decide what to do next.
The three countries are co-sponsors of a new U.N. resolution that would set out disarmament tests for Iraq with a do-it-or-else deadline -- a resolution that even sponsors concede has failed to garner the support it needs to pass through the U.N. Security Council.
Vice President Dick Cheney Sunday hinted Sunday at how near a Bush decision might be on whether to launch a war against Iraq.
"Given where we are, both diplomatically as well as in the region, we're getting close to the point where the president is going to have to make an important decision," Cheney told CBS's "Face the Nation."
Asked whether it was likely that Saddam might try to pre-empt a U.S. invasion by attacking first, he said, "That's a possibility." (Full story)
Bush and Blair maintain they already have authority, under previous U.N. resolutions, for a military strike on Iraq, regardless of the outcome of the current debate.
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Bush Says Monday 'A Moment of Truth' on Iraq
Sun March 16, 2003 02:02 PM ET
LAJES AIRBASE, Azores (Reuters) - President Bush said at an Iraq crisis summit that Monday was "a moment of truth for the world" and he would push for an Iraqi interim authority to build a free Iraq.
"We concluded that tomorrow is a moment of truth for the world," he told a news conference on Sunday in the Azores joined by the leaders of Britain and Spain.
The U.S. president did not elaborate but Monday was the deadline the United States and its allies had given Iraqi President Saddam Hussein for disarming.
"The Iraqi regime will disarm itself or the Iraqi regime will be disarmed by force -- and the regime has not disarmed itself," Bush said.
"We will push as quickly as possible for an Iraqi interim authority to draw upon the talents of Iraq's people to rebuild their nation. We are committed to the goal of a unified Iraq with democratic institutions.
"To achieve this vision, we will work closely with the international community, including the United Nations and our coalition partners.
"If military force is required, we will quickly seek new Security Council resolutions to encourage broad participation in the process of helping the Iraqi people to build a free Iraq."
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar and British Prime Minister Tony Blair told the news conference said they were committed to the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
Bush said he hopes the United Nations "will do its job," but warned that France's threatened veto of any U.N. resolution to authorize force means that "cards have been played."
Bush made his comments after a brief summit in the Azores with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar. A British official had described the meeting as the "last chance for diplomacy."
"No one is pretending things are other than difficult," the British official said.
Frustrated by opposition to their hard-line stance on Iraqi disarmament, the architects of the "coalition of the willing" converged on Terceira, an island of the Portuguese Azores in the Atlantic Ocean, to decide what to do next.
The three countries are co-sponsors of a new U.N. resolution that would set out disarmament tests for Iraq with a do-it-or-else deadline -- a resolution that even sponsors concede has failed to garner the support it needs to pass through the U.N. Security Council.
Vice President Dick Cheney Sunday hinted Sunday at how near a Bush decision might be on whether to launch a war against Iraq.
"Given where we are, both diplomatically as well as in the region, we're getting close to the point where the president is going to have to make an important decision," Cheney told CBS's "Face the Nation."
Asked whether it was likely that Saddam might try to pre-empt a U.S. invasion by attacking first, he said, "That's a possibility." (Full story)
Bush and Blair maintain they already have authority, under previous U.N. resolutions, for a military strike on Iraq, regardless of the outcome of the current debate.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bush Says Monday 'A Moment of Truth' on Iraq
Sun March 16, 2003 02:02 PM ET
LAJES AIRBASE, Azores (Reuters) - President Bush said at an Iraq crisis summit that Monday was "a moment of truth for the world" and he would push for an Iraqi interim authority to build a free Iraq.
"We concluded that tomorrow is a moment of truth for the world," he told a news conference on Sunday in the Azores joined by the leaders of Britain and Spain.
The U.S. president did not elaborate but Monday was the deadline the United States and its allies had given Iraqi President Saddam Hussein for disarming.
"The Iraqi regime will disarm itself or the Iraqi regime will be disarmed by force -- and the regime has not disarmed itself," Bush said.
"We will push as quickly as possible for an Iraqi interim authority to draw upon the talents of Iraq's people to rebuild their nation. We are committed to the goal of a unified Iraq with democratic institutions.
"To achieve this vision, we will work closely with the international community, including the United Nations and our coalition partners.
"If military force is required, we will quickly seek new Security Council resolutions to encourage broad participation in the process of helping the Iraqi people to build a free Iraq."
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar and British Prime Minister Tony Blair told the news conference said they were committed to the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
