US President George W. Bush said he does not have any plans to wage war on Iraq at the start of a four-nation European tour to rally support for the fight against terrorism. But Bush said Iraqi President Saddam Hussein remained a threat as a "dictator who's gassed his own people" and who is working to acquire weapons of mass destruction.
"I have no war plans on my desk, and it's the truth," Bush said at a joint press conference in Berlin with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. He said the United States remained committed to using "all means at our disposal" to fight Iraq, if necessary.
"I'm telling you the threat is real," Bush said, saying that Iraq can not be allowed to make weapons of mass destruction available to terrorist organizations like al-Qaeda. He said "history has called us to action" on this issue.
Bush also warned about Iran, saying that "if Iran gets weapons of mass destruction deliverable by a missile, that's going to be a problem for all of us." He said he would talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin about arms sales to Iran, when they meet in Moscow Friday, telling him "that if you arm Iran you are liable to have the weapons pointed at you" one day.
According to AFP, Schroeder said there was no disagreement between him and Bush that pressure must be put on Iraq to allow in UN arms inspectors of suspected weapons of mass destruction. He said that since the United States has no concrete plans to attack Iraq, there was no reason to speculate about German involvement in such an attack. But he said Bush had told him that no option on Iraq had been ruled out.
Both Bush and Schroeder said allies would be consulted before the United States took any action. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
