Rumsfeld implores Congress to move on Iraq

WASHINGTON -- Congress must authorize the use of military force against Iraq before the U.N. Security Council votes on the issue, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told Congress Wednesday.\n"No terrorist state poses a greater and more immediate threat to the security of our people and the stability of the world than the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq," Rumsfeld told the House Armed Services Committee.\n"The goal isn't inspections, the goal is disarmament," Rumsfeld said. "That is what Iraq agreed to do."\nRumsfeld's testimony came shortly after President Bush said Saddam is "not going to fool anybody" with his promise to admit weapons inspectors and predicted the United Nations will rally behind his Iraq policy despite signs of unease.\nIn an Oval Office meeting with congressional leaders, Bush thanked Democrats and Republicans for their commitment to vote on a congressional resolution on Iraq before November's elections.\n"I think it's an important signal for the world to see that this country is united in its resolve," the president said.\nRumsfeld said that message must be given before further U.N. action on Iraq.\n"Only certainty of U.S. and U.N. purposefulness can have even the prospect of affecting the Iraqi regime," Rumsfeld said. "It is important that Congress send that message as soon as possible - before the U.N. Security Council votes."\nTwo protesters, chanting "Inspections, not war," briefly interrupted Rumsfeld's testimony. A police officer escorted the women, who held banners with the same slogan, out of the hearing room.\nRumsfeld said the incident reminded him of the value of free speech, which he said Iraq does not provide its citizens.\nRumsfeld said Iraq has stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons and is trying to get enough weapons-grade material to build a nuclear bomb. He said the U.S. goal is to prevent Saddam from using such weapons of mass destruction to attack America or its allies.\n"The last thing we want is a smoking gun. A gun smokes after it has been fired," Rumsfeld said. "The goal must be to stop Saddam Hussein before he fires a weapon of mass destruction against our people."\nInformation presented at a classified briefing Wednesday morning indicated Iraq could have a nuclear weapon "in the very near future," said Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., the No. 2 lawmaker on the House Armed Services Committee. Hunter declined to elaborate.\n"It's important that we don't pass on to the next generation the problem of Saddam Hussein having nuclear weapons," Hunter told reporters after the hearing.\nAt the United Nations in New York, deliberations continued on the framing of one or more resolutions designed to force Iraq to disarm.\nState Department spokesman Richard Boucher said there might be several resolutions, dealing also with other Iraqi violations, and that all should specify consequences if Iraq continued to disregard them.\n"It's not up to Iraq to pick and choose," the U.S. official said.\nSecretary of State Colin Powell continued his consultations, meanwhile, with Foreign Ministers Igor Ivanov of Russia, Jack Straw of Britain and Dominique de Villepin of France, and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.\nThe Pentagon, meanwhile, said Tuesday it was seeking to move some B-2 bombers closer to Baghdad.\n"We've got to be together in the United States supporting the diplomatic and military, if necessary, to solve this problem," House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., said after the White House meeting.\nThe president bristled at suggestions that some U.S. allies, particularly France and Russia, might allow the promise of inspections to replace the need for a tough new U.N. resolution demanding Saddam to disarm.\n"All they've got to do is look at his record. His latest ploy, his latest attempt not to be held accountable for defying the United Nations. He's not going to fool anybody," Bush said.\nThe White House also sought to dispel the notion that the Iraqi offer would cause a delay--or a change--in the U.S. effort at the United Nations.\n"I see nothing to suggest that the timing has changed for what the United Nations Security Council is considering," Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer said. "Anything that is done now must be indeed be done differently so the world can know that disarmament will be carried out."\nIt was the second straight day that Bush has prodded the U.N. to move against Saddam, reflecting concerns about by senior advisers that Iraq has gained the upper hand in the public relations battle.\n"Reasonable people understand this man is unreasonable," Bush said.\nBush promised to reveal in the next few days his proposal for a congressional resolution. U.S. officials say. He wants authority to use "all appropriate means" to counter Saddam, but Democrats did not commit to any wording Wednesday. Proposed language has not yet been presented to lawmakers, but will be shortly, Fleischer said without giving a timetable.\nBush has raised the specter of military action to remove Saddam from power if the Iraqi leader fails to dismantle his chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs.\nThe U.S. military would have to call up more National Guard and Reserve forces if Bush decides to invade Iraq, Rumsfeld said. More than 70,000 reservists have been called to active duty so far in the war on terrorism, and more than 20,000 soldiers in key specialties have been blocked from leaving active duty.\nThere's "not a chance" that a draft would be needed to augment U.S. military forces, Rumsfeld said.