Bush to seek approval before taking action

WASHINGTON -- President Bush, opening a public-relations offensive against Saddam Hussein, pledged Wednesday to seek congressional approval before taking action against the Iraqi leader and warned wary allies their "credibility is at stake" as they decide whether to back the United States.\nThe president will argue his case before the United Nations General Assembly next week after a weekend huddle at Camp David with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, virtually alone among overseas leaders in supporting Bush's intent to see Saddam overthrown.\n"Saddam Hussein is a serious threat. He is a significant problem and something the country must deal with," Bush said after meeting with congressional leaders at the White House. "Doing nothing about that serious threat is not an option for the United States."\nThe president is strongly considering a U.N. Security Council resolution that would set a deadline for Iraq to open its weapons sites to unfettered inspection and to imply punitive action if he refuses, three administration officials told The Associated Press.\nTo get the resolution through the council, and past a threatened veto by China or Russia, the resolution would not spell out the threat, but it would be obvious to Saddam, said one of the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity.\nSome two dozen ideas are circulating within the administration, and among them is the notion of "coercive inspections" -- forcing Iraq to open its suspect sites to inspectors by deploying thousands of American or multinational troops in or near Iraq who would launch an attack if inspectors were denied, a senior U.S. official said.\n"I am in the process of deciding how to proceed," Bush wrote in a letter given to members of Congress in their Cabinet Room talks. The president also wrote that he is committed to an internationalist approach and, in addition to meeting with Blair, will "reach out" to presidents Jacques Chirac of France, Jiang Zemin of China and Vladimir Putin of Russia -- all three currently opposed to military action against Iraq.\nAs for an eventual congressional resolution, Bush suggested in his letter that he could ask for essentially a blank check. "At an appropriate time ... I will seek congressional support for U.S. action to do whatever is necessary to deal with" Saddam, Bush wrote.\nThe resolution could include "any number of things, including the option of military force," said White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, reiterating that the administration believes it already "has the authority it needs" to wage war.\nHouse Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., said Congress would vote before the Nov. 5 elections on a non-binding resolution about what to do about Iraq. Military action is not a done deal, he and other leaders agreed.\n"It would not be my assumption that the military course is the only action available to him today," said Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D. "We're hoping for more information and greater clarity in the days and weeks ahead."\nRep. Nancy Pelosi, senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said she told Bush he had to be honest about what war with Iraq could bring. "We have to level with the American people that, in addition to everything else, we are talking about a long occupation of Iraq," she said.\nDefense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld was headed to the Capitol later Wednesday for classified meetings to "talk more specifically about options and strategies," Daschle said.\nFresh off a monthlong working vacation in Crawford, Texas, Bush opened what he said would be a series of consultations with lawmakers and U.S. allies.\n"Today, the process starts," Bush said.\nAsked if he was giving Congress veto authority over whatever strategy he decides, Bush said he was confident he could work with lawmakers on the issue.\nThough he billed next week's U.N. speech as an important outline of his intentions, Bush would not say whether he would issue Iraq an ultimatum or whether he would demand weapons inspectors be admitted to the nation.\n"This issue is not inspectors. The issue is disarmament," Bush said.\n"This is a man who said he would not arm up. He told the world he would not harbor weapons of mass destruction," Bush said, adding that the primary issue is Saddam's access to weapons of mass destruction.\n"I'll be discussing ways to make sure that is not the case," he said.\n"For 11 long years, Saddam Hussein has sidestepped, crawfished, wheedled out of any agreements he had made not to develop weapons of mass destruction," the president said. "So I'm going to call upon the world to recognize that he is stiffing the world. And I will lay out and I will talk about ways to make sure he follows up on his agreements."\nThe president's meeting with top Democratic and Republican lawmakers -- including leaders of the Intelligence, Armed Services and International Relations committees -- comes amid increasing signals that Bush is ready to go public with a fuller picture of what the United States knows about Saddam's weapons capabilities.\nBush aimed his remarks at reluctant U.S. allies as well as lawmakers.\n"The world must understand its credibility is at stake," he said.\nInitial reaction to Bush's promises of outreach to the United Nations was, from at least one ally, positive. "Now this is starting to, I think, end up in a situation when it probably can be politically manageable," said Swedish Prime Minister Goeran Persson.