Bush: Post-Saddam Iraq not US job
By William M. Reilly
>From the International Desk
Published 9/9/2002 9:41 PM
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UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- President Bush Monday told world
leaders it will be the responsibility of the whole international
community, rather than the United States, to determine what kind of
regime should replace Iraqi President Saddam Hussein if his
government is toppled by U.S. military action, European diplomats
told United Press International.
During a call to the current head of the European Union, Danish Prime
Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Bush made it clear he felt "not his
responsibility to define" who or what would replace the Iraqi president,
according to one diplomat.
Bush "expressed the view that any alternative is preferable" to
Saddam, added the diplomat.
A second official from another European country agreed that Bush
had "said it was up to the international community to help set up
what follows" once the government in Baghdad had been toppled.
The news comes amid growing concern in the international community about
the possible effects of a U.S. military strike to effect what Americans
call regime change in the beleaguered Arab nation.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, gave voice to these concerns
Monday.
Asked about the consequences of a U.S. attack on Iraq, he said it
would be "difficult to predict.
"I know many people are worried about unexpected consequences, and the
question is -- the morning after," he said, explaining, "What sort of
Iraq do we wake up to after the bombing, and what happens in the region?
What impact could it have? These are questions leaders I have spoken to
have posed."
The secretary-general said he did not want to "throw out any guesses,
but I am concerned as well."
Annan advised the international community to wait until President
Bush's address to the General Assembly later in the week.
Earlier, Annan was asked if any nation had come forward with
an "initiative in the Security Council or by any other means before they
take any further military action against Iraq?" and he replied, that he
had spoken with Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair "and I would
suggest we all wait to hear what President Bush has to say on Thursday"
when he addresses the opening of the annual general debate in the U.N.
General Assembly.
When asked about French President Jacques Chirac's proposal the
council might serve an ultimatum on Baghdad to allow U.N. weapons
inspectors, barred since late 1998 from Iraq, to return, Annan told
reporters, "I think it is important to stress that the council, which
has been seized with this Iraqi issue for so long, should have something
to say. I think it is appropriate that the council pronounces itself on
the issue."
Bush, who last week telephoned the leaders of key Security Council
members -- France, Russia and China -- spoke Monday with Annan,
Rasmussen, and Turkish President Acmet Necdet Sezer, spokesman Ari
Fleischer said Monday morning.
Calls were scheduled for later in the day to George Robertson, NATO's
secretary-general, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Saudi Crown
Prince Abdullah.
"The president is calling as part of his ongoing consultations with
leaders around the world about the situation in Iraq, and he's also
urging them to listen carefully to his speech at the United Nations,"
Fleischer said.
The United States argues Iraq's pursuit of weapons of mass
destruction -- and suspected possession of some forms of such
weapons -- poses a clear and imminent threat to regional and world
peace.
National security adviser Condoleezza Rice, speaking on television
Sunday, said the world could not afford to wait for definitive,
incontrovertible proof of Iraq's possession of weapons, including
nuclear arms, because the "smoking gun" could turn out to be "a mushroom
cloud."
Washington's unilateral saber rattling has produced strong notes of
dissent from allies in the Middle East and Europe, a situation Bush is
now attempting to address in his domestic and international consultation
prior to making a decision on action.
French President Jacques Chirac in a newspaper article Monday put
forward a plan for a strict U.N. warning and 3-week deadline for Iraq to
allow the resumption of weapons' inspections before any military action
would be taken. The White House on Monday did not comment on the Chirac
plan.
Bush was scheduled to meet Monday with Canadian Prime Minister Jean
Chretien to discuss the implementation of a "smart border" program to
tighten security along the frontier and yet not impede the heavy flow of
trade across it.
It was widely expected Bush would also lobby Chretien on Iraq and the
need for strong action, including military force if needed, but
Fleischer Monday declined to indicate such.
Chretien has expressed caution on the question of military action.
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister John Manley, speaking Sunday, said Canada
would oppose any pre-emptive military strike by Washington.
"They'd be going in without Canadian support," he said.
Copyright © 2002 United Press International
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