thedrifter
03-17-03, 09:50 AM
Bush to address nation on Iraq
Monday, March 17, 2003 Posted: 10:45 AM EST (1545 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush will demand Monday night that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein step down and leave the country in order to avoid war, the White House said.
Bush is scheduled to address the nation at 8 p.m. ET Monday. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said diplomatic efforts to avoid war have ended, and Saddam must leave Iraq in order to avoid military action.
Word of the televised speech came just moments after United Nations representatives from the United States, Britain and Spain said they would not seek a second Security Council vote on a resolution aimed at disarming Iraq of alleged weapons of mass destruction.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan was expected later Monday to inform the council that he is withdrawing U.N. weapons inspectors from Iraq. The United States had advised the United Nations to remove its weapons inspectors from Iraq, and offered to help ensure their safe passage.
After a Sunday summit with British and Spanish leaders in the Azores, President Bush said that Monday would be a "moment of truth" -- a final day for the United Nations to work out a diplomatic solution to the Iraqi crisis acceptable to the U.S.-led coalition.
Along the Kuwait-Iraq border, the U.N. Iraq-Kuwait Observer Mission on Monday pulled its remaining staff from both sides of the demilitarized zone separating the two nations. (Full story)
Also Monday, the U.S. State Department urged all U.S. citizens to leave Kuwait due to the threat of war. The warning followed Sunday's notice for all U.S. Embassy nonemergency staff and family members to depart.
Germany and Russia have already urged their citizens to leave Iraq and to avoid traveling there. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that Moscow continues to support a peaceful resolution of the crisis only and "any other option would be a mistake."
There are 60 inspectors remaining in Iraq out of about 140 international staff. Chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix has said inspectors will need 24 to 48 hours to clear out of the country.
The Iraqi government has had no immediate reaction about the possible pullout, but an Iraqi official stressed that the country has cooperated with the Security Council.
Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Sa'eed al-Sahaf said: "We've done everything, and we will continue to cooperate with the Security Council..."
The continued threat of a U.S.-led war on Iraq came as a newly released CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll said 64 percent of Americans surveyed favor sending U.S. ground forces to remove Saddam from power -- up five percentage points from a similar survey earlier this month. The telephone poll interviewed 1,007 adults on Friday and Saturday.
In London, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Cabinet were scheduled to hold an emergency meeting Monday afternoon to discuss whether diplomatic efforts to avert a war in Iraq have been exhausted, a government spokesman said.
CNN Correspondents Rym Brahimi and John King and CNN Moscow Bureau Chief Jill Dougherty contributed to this report. For latest developments, see CNN.com's Iraq Tracker.
Sempers,
Roger
God Bless America
God Bless Our Troops
Monday, March 17, 2003 Posted: 10:45 AM EST (1545 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush will demand Monday night that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein step down and leave the country in order to avoid war, the White House said.
Bush is scheduled to address the nation at 8 p.m. ET Monday. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said diplomatic efforts to avoid war have ended, and Saddam must leave Iraq in order to avoid military action.
Word of the televised speech came just moments after United Nations representatives from the United States, Britain and Spain said they would not seek a second Security Council vote on a resolution aimed at disarming Iraq of alleged weapons of mass destruction.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan was expected later Monday to inform the council that he is withdrawing U.N. weapons inspectors from Iraq. The United States had advised the United Nations to remove its weapons inspectors from Iraq, and offered to help ensure their safe passage.
After a Sunday summit with British and Spanish leaders in the Azores, President Bush said that Monday would be a "moment of truth" -- a final day for the United Nations to work out a diplomatic solution to the Iraqi crisis acceptable to the U.S.-led coalition.
Along the Kuwait-Iraq border, the U.N. Iraq-Kuwait Observer Mission on Monday pulled its remaining staff from both sides of the demilitarized zone separating the two nations. (Full story)
Also Monday, the U.S. State Department urged all U.S. citizens to leave Kuwait due to the threat of war. The warning followed Sunday's notice for all U.S. Embassy nonemergency staff and family members to depart.
Germany and Russia have already urged their citizens to leave Iraq and to avoid traveling there. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that Moscow continues to support a peaceful resolution of the crisis only and "any other option would be a mistake."
There are 60 inspectors remaining in Iraq out of about 140 international staff. Chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix has said inspectors will need 24 to 48 hours to clear out of the country.
The Iraqi government has had no immediate reaction about the possible pullout, but an Iraqi official stressed that the country has cooperated with the Security Council.
Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Sa'eed al-Sahaf said: "We've done everything, and we will continue to cooperate with the Security Council..."
The continued threat of a U.S.-led war on Iraq came as a newly released CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll said 64 percent of Americans surveyed favor sending U.S. ground forces to remove Saddam from power -- up five percentage points from a similar survey earlier this month. The telephone poll interviewed 1,007 adults on Friday and Saturday.
In London, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Cabinet were scheduled to hold an emergency meeting Monday afternoon to discuss whether diplomatic efforts to avert a war in Iraq have been exhausted, a government spokesman said.
CNN Correspondents Rym Brahimi and John King and CNN Moscow Bureau Chief Jill Dougherty contributed to this report. For latest developments, see CNN.com's Iraq Tracker.
Sempers,
Roger
God Bless America
God Bless Our Troops