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Blair urges new un draft Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
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Blair Urging Bush on New Iraq Resolution
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By RON FOURNIER, AP White House Corespondent
WASHINGTON - President Bush (news - web sites) says he would welcome a second U.N. resolution on Iraq but only if it led to the prompt disarming of Iraq. The stance exposes a potentially significant difference with British Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites).
Showing little patience for Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) or for allies trying to slow his pace toward war, Bush told reporters Friday: "Any attempt to drag this process out for months will be resisted by the United States."
Although the leaders are largely in agreement on most Iraq issues, the news conference after their two-hour White House meeting Friday revealed disagreements over diplomatic tactics and the extent of Saddam's threat.
Bush, for example, accused Iraq of being linked to Osama bin Laden (news - web sites)'s al-Qaida network and said those ties "portend a danger for America and for Great Britain, anybody who loves freedom." Blair did not make the link between Iraq and al-Qaida, though he said terrorist networks in general are tied to the threat posed by weapons of mass destruction.
On the idea of a second resolution, Bush said, "It'd be welcome if it is yet another signal that we're intent upon disarming Saddam Hussein." He was notably less positive about the idea than Blair, who said it is important that the United Nations (news - web sites) "comes together again" and passes a resolution.
Administration officials said Blair is pushing much harder than Bush for a resolution, and the president would like to accommodate his closest ally against Iraq. But the president said that last fall's U.N. resolution "gives us the authority to move without any second resolution."
"This issue will come to a head in a matter of weeks, not months," he declared.
Blair and Bush both have been buffeted by critics at home and abroad about their push toward war. With Britain's backing, the United States has threatened to use force to disarm Iraq if it does not give up chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs as required by the U.N. Security Council resolution passed in the fall.
"The judgment has to be at the present time that Saddam Hussein is not cooperating with the inspectors and is in breach with resolutions, and that's why time is running out," Blair said.
Blair has earmarked 35,000 troops for the Persian Gulf, by far the largest commitment outside the U.S. force.
Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota and three other top Democrats sent a letter to Bush requesting that Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) brief the Senate before he speaks to the United Nations next week.
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, meanwhile, denounced what he called "foreign and domestic apologists," particularly France and Germany, for favoring more patience over military action. Allowing more time for inspections means more time for Saddam to arm terrorists, he said.
"No more evidence, no more smoking guns, no more unreasonable demands from fading and dissipated countries which lack the will to defend even themselves," DeLay, R-Texas, told a conservative gathering Friday night. "We've got all the evidence we need — the pages of history."
The Bush-Blair meeting was part of what the White House says will be a busy, brief round of diplomacy aimed at building the case against Saddam.
Thus far, Bush's diplomatic schedule is largely dedicated to leaders who support his views. He called Czech President Vaclav Havel on Friday and scheduled a meeting next week with Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller.
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