Clinton: We Are Ready To Strike Iraq
President Clinton said Tuesday he still favored a diplomatic solution to the Iraq crisis but only if it met the "immutable" condition of ensuring free, unfettered access for United Nations weapons inspections.
"Let there be no doubt: We are prepared to act," Mr. Clinton said after a briefing from his top military commanders at the Pentagon.
The president said that Saddam Hussein has used biological weapons against his own people and has lied to the U.N. about his weapons of mass destruction.
"It is obvious that there is an attempt here, based on the whole history of this operation since 1991, to protect whatever remains of his capacity to produce weapons of mass destruction, the missiles to deliver them, and the feedstock necessary to produce them," the president said.
Clinton was speaking as the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council discussed terms of a possible last-ditch mission by U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to Baghdad later this week to persuade Iraq to open all suspected weapons sites to inspection by the U.N. Special Commission (UNSCOM).
"A diplomatic solution must include or meet a clear, immutable, reasonable, simple standard. Iraq must agree, and soon, to free, full, unfettered access to these sites, anywhere in the country. There can be no dilution or diminishment of the integrity of the system that UNSCOM has put in place," Clinton said.
Clinton, who has ordered a formidable military force to the Gulf to confront Saddam, said: "Let me be clear: a military operation cannot destroy all the weapons of mass destruction capacity. But it can, and will, leave him significantly worse off than he is now in terms of the ability to threaten the world with these weapons or to attack his neighbors. And he will know that the international community continues to have the will to act if and when he threatens again."
Clinton added: "We still have, God willing, a chance to find a diplomatic resolution of this and, if not, God willing, the chance to do the right thing for our children and our grandchildren."
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