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Bush: Democratic Iraq could be 'inspiring example'
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Creating a "free and peaceful" Iraq will be a difficult task requiring a "sustained commitment" from the United States and other countries, but a new Iraq could serve as "a dramatic and inspiring example of freedom" throughout the Middle East, President Bush said Wednesday evening. "Any future the Iraqi people choose for themselves will be better than the nightmare world that Saddam Hussein has chosen for them," Bush said in a speech to the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C. The United States, Britain and Spain say Iraq has missed its last chance to disarm peacefully. The three countries are working to line up U.N. Security Council members behind a proposed resolution that could clear the way for a war with Iraq led by the estimated 200,000-plus U.S. and British troops now massed in the Persian Gulf region. In his speech, Bush compared the rebuilding of Iraq to U.S. efforts after World War II to rebuild war-ravaged countries, including wartime enemies Germany and Japan. "After defeating enemies, we did not leave behind occupying armies. We left constitutions and parliaments. We established an atmosphere of safety, in which responsible, reform-minded local leaders could build lasting institutions of freedom." Bush also said that the world community "has a clear interest in the spread of democratic values, because stable and free nations do not breed the ideologies of murder. They encourage the peaceful pursuit of a better life." "Bringing stability and unity to a free Iraq will not be easy. Yet, that is no excuse to leave the Iraqi regime's torture chambers and poison labs in operation," Bush said. Hours before Bush's speech, France's prime minister warned that waging war on Iraq before giving diplomacy more time to work would be "perceived as precipitous and illegitimate." France and two other veto-wielding permanent members of the Security Council -- Russia and China -- oppose war and have urged the council not to cut short weapons inspections. "Today, a military intervention when all the chances of a peaceful solution haven't yet been explored would divide the international community," French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin said Wednesday in Paris. "Let's not deceive ourselves. Let us make no mistake: It would be perceived as precipitous and illegitimate." (Full story) The possibility of war already has divided Britain's ruling party. After hours of sometimes passionate debate in the House of Commons, Prime Minister Tony Blair won approval of a resolution calling on Iraq "to recognize this as its final opportunity to comply with its disarmament obligations." But 199 lawmakers -- about a third of the house -- backed a resolution saying Blair had failed to make the case for war. Despite the defection of as many as 100 Labour members, the resolution was defeated. (Full story) Amid all the talk of giving inspections more time, chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix told German weekly Die Zeit that it is not completely clear whether Iraq wants to comply with inspections. "On the other hand, this country had eight years of inspections, four years without inspections and now 12 weeks with them. Is it now the right time to shut the door?" he said in an interview scheduled for publication Thursday. "The whole thing is a process, which only moves along centimeter by centimeter," Blix said. "Even if Iraq would cooperate immediately, actively and unconditionally with us, we would need several months." Blix said it would take a "big effort" on the part of Iraq to clarify remaining issues relating to its disarmament, but he added, "I don't think we can say that we have a very long list of disarmament issues. "We welcome every step, and I have the impression that they stepped up their efforts lately." His comments came as Iraq faces a Saturday deadline to begin dismantling an estimated 100 to 120 Al Samoud 2 missiles. In the Security Council, the U.S.-backed proposal needs nine votes to pass with no vetoes from the permanent members. Among the council's 10 elected members, only Spain and Bulgaria have expressed support for the U.S.-British position, while Germany and Syria have said they would oppose it. A compromise proposal by Canada -- which is not on the council -- to set a late March deadline for Iraq to meet specific disarmament goals appeared to have little support within the council, even among critics of the U.S. resolution. The six uncommitted council members -- Angola, Cameroon, Pakistan, Mexico, Chile and Guinea -- are now the subject of intense lobbying efforts by the permanent five. Diplomats said Mexico appeared to be leaning toward the U.S. position, but U.N. Ambassador Adolfo Aguilar Zinser said Wednesday that his government wanted to see inspections continue. At the same time, U.S. diplomats are lobbying colleagues across the globe to support Bush's position on Iraq. CNN Correspondents Richard Roth, Stephanie Halasz, Jill Dougherty and Andrea Koppel contributed to this report. For latest developments, see CNN.com's Iraq Tracker. Copyright 2003 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
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