The Bush administration yesterday said the US would
expect to play a role in stabilising Iraq and setting it
on the path to democracy even if Saddam Hussein and his
entourage fled into exile.
Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser,
said that even if the Iraqi leader made a last minute
decision to abandon Baghdad to save Iraq from war, the
"US has to remain committed" to creating a
country that maintains its territorial integrity, destroys
its weapons of mass destruction and ends the repression of
its own people".
The comments from President George W. Bush's closest
foreign policy aide underline US determination to
intervene in Iraq.
Adding to the sense in the US that military action is
all but inevitable, former US administration officials and
military officers who have criticised the White House over
Iraq have begun to come on board.
Madeleine Albright, secretary of state in the Clinton
administration, said yesterday she was still concerned the
US was getting diverted from the war on terrorism, but
said she would support the military in the Gulf.
Norman Schwartzkopf, the chief combatant commander in
the 1991 Gulf war, who just last month said the
administration had not yet made a convincing case, said he
now supported its argument. The presentation made by Colin
Powell, secretary of state, to the UN Security Council
last week was "compelling", he said.
The Washington foreign policy team yesterday sought to
pre-empt any moves to delay or divert the US on the path
to confronting Mr Hussein.
Both Ms Rice and Mr Powell yesterday rebuffed a mooted
Franco-German plan to fortify the UN inspections process.
Ms Rice said that although she knew "very
little" of the Franco-German plan, she rejected the
idea as "a diversion" that could give Mr Hussein
the idea that "he will get more time and more time
and more time".
The White House is determined to keep up the pressure
this week not just on Mr Hussein, but more pointedly on
the United Nations Security Council. Speaking on CBS's
Face the Nation, Ms Rice yesterday echoed Donald Rumsfeld,
defence secretary, who warned France and Germany of
"diplomatic isolation" if they stood in the way
of a second UN resolution authorising the use of force.
Mr Bush is expected to maintain a stream of impatient
and belligerent rhetoric aimed at both Baghdad and the
US's recalcitrant allies. The president is due to go to
Jacksonville, Florida, on Thursday, where he will address
US troops as they set off for the Gulf.
The Pentagon announced last week that it was deploying
the 101st airborne division, considered a crucial element
in any invasion force. The unit, which has played a
pivotal role in conflicts since the second world war, is
likely to have most of its 15,000 soldiers and 270
helicopters in place by the third week of February.
