THE US: The US President, Mr George W. Bush, yesterday vowed to be patient in making any decision on Iraq, and the Vice-President, Mr Dick Cheney, said a return of UN weapons inspectors may not address concerns over Baghdad's drive for weapons of mass destruction.
Mr Bush and Mr Cheney made it clear that there was no decision to go to war to oust the President of Iraq, Mr Saddam Hussein, while insisting that his government remained a real threat a decade after losing the Gulf War to allied forces led by Mr Bush's father.
President Bush, on a day trip to Mississippi, reassured the US Congress and America's allies that he would consult them on how to deal with Iraq.
"These are real threats and we owe it to our children to deal with these threats," Mr Bush said in a speech at Madison Central High School.
"I promise you that I will be patient, and deliberate, that we will continue to consult with Congress, and of course we'll consult with our friends and allies. We'll discuss these threats in real terms.
"And I will explore all options and all tools at my disposal: diplomacy, international pressure, perhaps the military. But it's important for my fellow citizens to know that as we see threats evolving we will deal with them. We must deal with them," he said.
President Bush later drove home the point at a Republican fund-raiser. "We can't let the world's worst leaders blackmail and threaten the United States with the world's worst weapons."
Aides said it was not Mr Bush's intention to send a conciliatory message to US allies amid talk of war. They said he was simply restating US policy.
Mr Bush's earlier comments set off a fall in crude oil futures prices in New York as traders concluded that any US plans to attack Iraq were still some way off.
Mr Cheney cautioned that the threat posed by President Saddam's pursuit of weapons of mass destruction could not be wished away and that Washington would not ignore the dangers posed by "a dictator who is clearly pursuing these capabilities."
"The president has not made a decision at this point to go to war," he said. "The international community will have to come together in some fashion and figure out how we're going to have to deal with this growing threat," he said.
In the latest in a flurry of leaks in what appeared to be a battle among military planners to influence policy on Iraq, the Washington Times said US armed forces leaders have reached a consensus in support of using military force to oust Saddam.
Pentagon sources downplayed the report, saying there was no concrete agreement among the top brass.
Iraq, rattled by the war talk, last week offered to discuss the return of UN weapons inspectors.
A resumption of inspections aimed at stopping Iraq from acquiring weapons of mass destruction could increase pressure on the United States from its European and Arab allies not to attack.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, the main platform for the 1991 war against Iraq, has made it clear to Washington, publicly and privately, that it will not allow US forces to use its territory in any way for a new attack, the Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, said yesterday.
"We are against any attack on Iraq because we believe it is not needed, especially now that Iraq is moving to implement United Nations resolutions," the prince said. - (Reuters, Guardian service)