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Bush dismisses calls for more time

An Iraqi protester holds a dove against his chest, next to a badge with a portrait of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein attached to his jacket, during a demonstration in front the UN Development Program offices in Baghdad yesterday. PHOTO: AP

US President George Bush said Iraq was clearly not disarming and brushed aside increasingly frank opposition from allies, as the momentum for war grew.

He showed impatience with UN weapons inspectors who want more months to check Iraq's denials that it is developing chemical, biological or nuclear arms, and with fellow UN Security Council states that have backed their calls.

"It's clear to me now that he is not disarming," Bush said of Iraq's President Saddam Hussein. "Time is running out."

"How much more time do we need to be sure he is not disarming? This looks to me like a re-run of a bad movie and I'm not interested in watching it."

The US sees no need for further UN approval for an attack on Iraq.

With a crucial 10 days ahead on the path to war or peace, France and Russia underlined that the US would not get such a mandate any time soon and cautioned against conflict.

"We see no justification today for [military] intervention, since the inspectors are able to do their work," French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said.

"We could not support unilateral action," he said

France, which has still left the door open to eventual use of force, has a veto on the 15-seat Security Council, along with the US, Britain, Russia and China.

Germany, also on the council, has said it will not join any attack and made clear on Tuesday it would not support UN authorization for war.

"Do not expect that Germany will agree to a resolution that legitimizes war," Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said in his strongest indication yet of how Berlin would vote.

Bush is massing more than 150,000 troops in the oil-rich Gulf and has made clear he is ready to use them, with or without a new UN mandate, if it considers Iraq has not disarmed.

Oil prices hit two-year highs as the Pentagon ordered two more aircraft carriers and 37,000 troops to the Gulf.

Britain, Bush's main military ally, has also ordered thousands of troops to the region. Australia said yesterday it was sending troops and the transport ship Kanimbla to the Middle East this week for a possible war with Iraq.

The next 10 days appear crucial on the path to possible war.

White House officials said Bush would use his major State of the Union speech on Monday to underscore the threat posed by Iraq but would not deliver an ultimatum or declare war.

The same day, chief UN arms inspector Hans Blix delivers a report to the Security Council, which convenes two days later.

If he voices dissatisfaction with Iraq's cooperation -- and he has said there are still "many questions" unanswered -- it could mean war.

On Jan. 31, Bush hosts British Prime Minister Tony Blair for talks at Camp David which some see as a possible council of war.

Asked on Tuesday how much more time he would give Saddam to comply with UN demands to disarm or face military action, Bush said: "I will let you know when the moment has come."

"We have not seen anything that indicates the Iraqi regime has made a strategic decision to disarm," he told Congress later. "On the contrary, we believe Iraq is actively working to disrupt, deny and defeat inspection efforts."

Resolution 1441, passed unanimously by the Security Council in November to force Baghdad to come clean about its arms programs, threatens "serious consequences" in the event of a "material breach" -- meaning Iraqi evasion or obstruction.

Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said alternatives to force against Baghdad were "just about exhausted."

"This regime has very little time left to undo the legacy of 12 years," he said of the country whose invasion of Kuwait sparked the 1991 Gulf War that expelled its forces.

Russia disagreed. "Most countries believe that opportunities for a diplomatic solution are far from exhausted," Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said in Moscow.

Armitage flew to the Russian capital yesterday for talks with First Deputy Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Trubnikov.

"I trust ... I can shed some light on why we're thinking as we are and taking the view that our options are just about exhausted," he said.

Mohamed ElBaradei, the UN nuclear agency chief who will report with Blix on Monday, said the inspectors needed "quite a few months" more to finish their work.

He said: "I am pleading for the inspection process to take its course."

Turkey, a staunch NATO ally which has misgivings about helping start a war on its own doorstep, said it would host a meeting of regional foreign ministers in Istanbul today. They would urge Baghdad to obey UN disarmament demands.
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