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WASHINGTON, Oct. 1, 2002 – "I haven't made up my mind we're going to war with Iraq," U.S. President George W. Bush said Tuesday. "I've made up my mind we need to disarm the man."
Saddam Hussein is a true threat to his neighbors and to the United States, the president said following a White House meeting with members of Congress. The United States is determined to disarm Iraq and thereby bring peace to the world, he said. "The best way to deal with him is for the world to rise up and say, 'You disarm, (or) we'll disarm you.' And if, at the very end of the day, nothing happens, the United States, along with others, will act." Bush acknowledged that Congress is working to reach consensus on a resolution to deal with Iraq. He said he doesn't want a resolution that will tie his hands or one that's weaker than the "very strong" resolution Congress passed in 1998. "They wisely recognized that Saddam Hussein was a threat in (19)98 and he's more of a threat four years later," Bush said. "This guy's had four years to lie, deceive, to arm up. He's had four years to thumb his nose at the world. He's stockpiling more weapons." The military option is not the first choice, he stressed; disarming Saddam is. "The same old stuff isn't going to work," Bush said. "We won't accept the status quo. There needs to be a strong new resolution in order for us to make it clear to the world and to Saddam Hussein, more importantly, that you must disarm." A very strong UN resolution is needed, he said, "so that we don't fall into the same trap as we have done for the last 11 years which is nothing happens." "The United Nations must show its backbone," the president said. "And we will work with members of the Security Council to put a little calcium in the backbone, so this organization is able to more likely keep the peace as we go down the road."
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