US President George W Bush has played down reservations from key figures in his Republican Party concerning his strategy to oust Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, as well as comments urging him to make a more convincing case for military action against Iraq.
"We'll continue to consult. ... People should be allowed to express their opinion. But America needs to know I'll be making up my mind based upon the latest intelligence and how best to protect our own country plus our friends and allies," Bush told reporters in, Texas, where he is vacationing on his ranch.
Republican members of Congress such as Chuck Hagel and Dick Armey, and former secretary of state Henry Kissinger and national security adviser Brent Scowcroft, have one by one expressed reservations about a US attack on Iraq and looked to Bush for clarity on his intentions.
"Don't attack Saddam ... An attack on Iraq at this time would seriously jeopardize, if not destroy, the global counterterrorist campaign we have undertaken," Scowcroft, who severed as national security adviser to former presidents Gerald Ford and George Bush Sr. in a Wall Street Journalarticle.
Despite Saddam's sabre rattling, "there is little evidence to indicate that the United States itself is an abject of his aggression," Scowcroft said.
Instead Scowcroft said the United States should issue an unconditional ultimatum that Iraq reopen its border to UN arms inspectors.
At the same time Scowcroft recalled that he has yet to see any evidence of a link between Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network of terrorists.
Scowcroft is part of a moderate camp of Republicans which includes Secretary of State Colin Powell. During the Gulf War Scowcroft and Powell supported the liberation of Kuwait but opposed a US push to oust Saddam.
Henry Kissinger, former President Richard Nixon's illustrious secretary of state, also weighed in this week saying, "Military intervention should be attempted only if we are willing to sustain such an effort for however long it is needed" to stabilise and rebuild Iraq.
"The imminence of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the huge dangers it involves, the rejection of a viable inspection system and the demonstrated hostility of Saddam Hussein all combine to produce an imperative for pre-emptive action," Kissinger said.
On the other hand Republican Senator Chuck Hagel has also said the Bush's administration has not provided convincing proof that the situation in Iraq warrants such a large response. The CIA has "absolutely no evidence" that Iraq possesses or will soon possess nuclear weapons, he said.
Dick Armey, the House Republican majority leader, also came out against a war "without proper provocation" from Iraq. But according to Bush's national security adviser Condoleezza Rice Washington does "not have the luxury of doing nothing" about Iraq.
AFP