Posted on 11/26/2001 10:19:30 AM PST by dead
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites) said on Monday the war against Afghanistan (news - web sites)'s Taliban was entering a dangerous phase and casualties were possible, as U.S. Marines hit the ground near the Taliban's last stronghold.
``This is a dangerous period of time. This is a period of time in which we're now hunting down the people who are responsible for bombing America,'' Bush told reporters. ``No president or commander in chief hopes anybody loses life in the theater, but it's going to happen.
Bush also demanded that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) allow a resumption of international inspections to determine whether the country was developing weapons of mass destruction. He said Saddam would ``find out'' what the consequences would be if Iraq refused.
Speaking to reporters as he welcomed to the White House two U.S. aid workers freed from three months' imprisonment by the Taliban, Bush said an intensifying hunt for Islamic militant Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) would bring dangers.
Hundreds of U.S. Marines were deployed in Afghanistan on Sunday, taking an airstrip near the Taliban's last redoubt of Kandahar as the United States searched for bin Laden, who was believed to be in the area. Bush blames bin Laden for the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, which killed nearly 4,000.
``I said this early on as the campaign began, America must be prepared for loss of life. I believe the American people understand that we have got a mighty struggle on our hands, and that there will be sacrifice,'' he said.
In his remarks on Iraq, Bush made clear that his doctrine of intolerance toward terrorists or countries that harbor them also applied to countries that produced weapons of mass destruction used in acts of terrorism.
``If they fund a terrorist, they're a terrorist. If they house terrorists, they're terrorists. I mean, I can't make it any more clearly to other nations around the world. If they develop weapons of mass destruction that will be used to terrorize nations, they will be held accountable,'' Bush said.
``As for Mr. Saddam Hussein, he needs to let inspectors back into his country to show us that he is not developing weapons of mass destruction,'' Bush told reporters amid speculation that Iraq could be the next target in the U.S.-led war on terrorism.
Asked what would happen if Saddam refused, Bush replied: ''He'll find out.''
After having expelled the weapons inspectors in December 1998, Iraq rejected a U.N. resolution adopted in December 1999 calling for the suspension of U.N. sanctions if it allowed the inspectors to return.
Welcoming aid workers Heather Mercer and Dayna Curry, who were freed on Nov. 14 after more than three months' captivity by the Taliban on charges of spreading Christianity, Bush said the faith shown by the women was an inspiration.
``It's a wonderful story about prayer, about a faith that can sustain people in good times and in bad times,'' Bush said.
Said Mercer, ``I think if we had a whole lifetime to say thank you, we wouldn't do it right, we wouldn't say it appropriately.''
Saddam is now less likely to agree to inspections, precisely because Bush is demanding them. Saddam doesn't want it to appear to the Muslim masses in the Middle East that he is caving in to Bush's demands. Even if he does verbally agree to inspections, it will be with a whole string of conditions. Bush will reject any conditions and thereby set up a confrontation. It will take awhile, but eventually the conflict will come to a boil, and the U.S. will use Saddam's intransigence to justify the use of force to overthrow his regime.
The alternative is that Saddam will completely cave in to Bush's demands and allow intense unlimited inspections throughout Iraq. That might forestall his overthrow by the U.S., but it would also pull his teeth when it comes to the threat of weapons of mass destruction and harboring terrorists. Which is in fact what our objective is, so it's a tolerable alternative from our point of view.
As he did with the Taliban, Bush will make Saddam an offer he can't accept.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.