US President George W. Bush vowed to use the "full force and fury" of the US military if necessary to make Iraq disarm, but Baghdad warned fellow Arab states yesterday that any such strike would rebound on them.
As UN Security Council mem-bers discussed a resolution to force President Saddam Hussein to cooperate with a new mission by UN arms inspectors in Iraq, Bush said the world faced a "fundamental question ... do we deal with this guy or not?"
"We'll see whether or not the United Nations has the desire, has the backbone necessary to uphold its own resolutions and help keep the peace," Bush said on Tuesday in Knoxville, Tennessee.
"But if they're unable to act, and if Saddam Hussein can't do what he said he would do, which is disarm, this country will lead a coalition and disarm him, for the sake of peace.
"Committing our military into harm's way is my last choice," Bush added. "But I want you to know that if we have to commit our military -- and we may not have to -- but if we have to, then we'll have the best plans, the full force and fury of the United States military will be unleashed."
The US and Britain are pushing a UN resolution that would give sweeping powers to inspectors looking for chemical, biological and nuclear weapons in Iraq, and threaten force if Saddam did not comply. But France, Russia and China want a weaker text.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw arrived in Iran yesterday on a four-nation Middle East tour to seek support for the US-British line.
The Arab countries Straw visited -- Egypt, Jordan and Kuwait -- responded coolly and Iraq has sought to play on their fears.
Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, visiting Syria as part of a quest for Arab backing, said yesterday that no Arab country should expect to escape unscathed from a US strike on Iraq, even if it cooperated with Washington.
"No Arab country is free of the threat, even if it takes part alongside America in the aggression against Iraq," Aziz told reporters in Damascus.
Meanwhile, Iraq's state radio said yesterday that more than 11.5 million Iraqis will cast ballots in a referendum to endorse Saddam's presidency for another seven-year term on Tuesday.
Iraq announced plans for the secret ballot referendum on Sept. 8.
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