President George W Bush warned Iraq this morning that any act of delay or defiance would be a breach of its international obligations under a tough new UN resolution requiring Baghdad to disarm.
He said if Iraqi President Saddam Hussein failed to allow immediate and unrestricted access to every site, every document and every person identified by UN weapons inspectors, it would be a clear signal of non-compliance.
"The world has now come together to say that the outlaw regime in Iraq will not be permitted to build or possess chemical, biological or nuclear weapons," Bush said in his weekly radio address. "And my administration will see to it that the world's judgment is enforced."
With a unanimous UN Security Council resolution in his pocket and US military forces stationed in and around the Middle East, Bush made clear he would not accept any stalling from the Iraqi government.
"Iraq must now, without delay or negotiations, give up its weapons of mass destruction, welcome full inspections and fundamentally change the approach it has taken for more than a decade," he said. "Iraq can be certain that the old game of cheat and retreat, tolerated at other times, will no longer be tolerated."
Iraq has a week to accept the resolution, which gives arms inspectors broad new rights, and 30 days to submit a detailed declaration of its weapons of mass destruction.
Chief UN weapons inspector, Hans Blix, said he and an advance team would be in Baghdad on November 18th after a four-year absence. Inspectors are likely to arrive about November 25th.