Bush Warns Saddam of 'Day of Reckoning'

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Raisethefist.com: Bush Warns Saddam of 'Day of Reckoning'

Bush Warns Saddam of 'Day of Reckoning'
by ap Thu Jan 2 19:42:03 PST 2003

CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites) warned Iraqi President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) on Thursday his "day of reckoning is coming" and Western warplanes dumped leaflets over Iraq urging citizens to tune into U.S. military radio.

Iraq's deputy prime minister, Tareq Aziz, earlier accused Washington of "an imperialist design" to invade his country regardless of the verdict of U.N. weapons inspectors who are combing Iraq for alleged weapons of mass destruction.

Bush told reporters at his Crawford, Texas, ranch there was little evidence the Iraqi leader would disarm peacefully.

"For 11 long years the world has dealt with him, and now he's got to understand his day of reckoning is coming and therefore he must disarm voluntarily," Bush said. "Saddam Hussein, hopefully he realizes we're serious."

Bush spoke as more than 11,000 American troops prepared to head for the Gulf amid U.S. preparations for a possible invasion of Iraq to force an end to any programs Saddam has to make nuclear, biological or chemical weapons.

Bush said he hoped for a peaceful resolution, but added, "It's his (Saddam's) choice to make."

"He is a man who likes to play games and charades, and ... the first indication isn't very positive that he will voluntarily disarm."

Baghdad denies it currently has weapons of mass destruction programs.

Aircraft taking part in U.S.-British patrols over southern Iraq on Thursday attacked Iraqi air defense communications facilities near Al Kut, about 100 miles southeast of Baghdad, after Iraqi forces fired anti-aircraft artillery at coalition aircraft, the Florida-based U.S. Central Command said.

U.S.-British patrols dropped 480,000 leaflets over two cities in a "no-fly" zone of southern Iraq on Thursday, pressing Iraqi troops and citizens to listen to American special forces radio broadcasts to the area, the U.S. military said.

Leaflets providing frequencies of broadcasts slamming Saddam and providing information on U.N. Security Council Resolution 1441 and U.N. arms inspections in Iraq were dropped over Nasiriyah and Basra, the U.S. Central Command said.

It was the 12th such mass drop of leaflets, including many warning the Iraqi military to stop targeting U.S. and British warplanes, in the past three months.

Bush says he has made no decision on whether to attack Iraq, which was ordered by the U.N. Security Council in November to disarm or face serious consequences.

AZIZ SAYS OIL DRIVES U.S.

Aziz said Washington was planning to invade his country as part of a plan to control the region's oil supplies.

"When they continue their preparations for the war of aggression, what does that mean? It doesn't mean that they are genuinely afraid of an imaginary Iraqi threat. It means that they have an imperialist design," he said in English to several groups of European activists in Baghdad to show their opposition to war on Iraq.

"That design is to invade Iraq, to occupy Iraq and use the national resources of Iraq for the purposes of ... the American capitalist regime," he said.

"When America becomes stronger economically, when America takes over the whole oil of the region and puts it in its hands, it is going to pressure politically and economically every country that needs oil," Aziz said.

A U.N. spokesman said teams from the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency drove on Thursday to six sites in central and northwest Iraq.

U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix would probably visit Baghdad between Jan. 18 and 20 before reporting on the inspections to the U.N. Security Council on Jan. 27, U.N. sources in New York said.

On the diplomatic front, an Iranian newspaper reported what it said was a U.S.-Russian plan to persuade Saddam to hand over power and go to Moscow. Washington said it was not aware of any attempt to promote such proposals, while the Russian Foreign Ministry declined to comment.

A group of writers and lawyers from several Arab countries said it was launching an appeal to the Arab world to exercise pressure for Saddam and close aides to step down. (Additional reporting by Nadim Ladki in Baghdad and Charles Aldinger in Washington)

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