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Bush Welcomes U-N Unanimous Vote On Iraq Resolution - 2002-11-08


President Bush promises Iraq "severe consequences" if it does not fully comply with a U-N resolution ordering the country to give up its weapons of mass destruction.

The president made his comments today (Friday) immediately after the U-N Security Council passed the resolution in a unanimous vote. He says the 15-to-nothing decision shows the United Nations has met its responsibilities.

In Iraq's first official reaction, the Iraqi ambassador to the United Nations , Mohammed al-Douri says Baghdad will study the resolution and decide whether or not to accept it.

Mr. Bush says if Iraq does not comply with U-N demands, the United States and other nations will, in his words, disarm Saddam Hussein.

Speaking in London, British Prime Minister Tony Blair says Iraq should have no doubt that it will be disarmed by force if it defies the U-N's will.

Under terms of the resolution, Iraq has seven days to accept the council's decision, and 30 days to make a full accounting of its weapons program.

The resolution -- the result of weeks of negotiations -- gives the inspectors the right to search anywhere for banned weapons, including Saddam's Hussein's palace compounds.

Chief U-N weapons inspector Hans Blix says that weapons inspectors will go back to Iraq on November 18th. They then have two months to compile a report for the Security Council.

The text calls for serious consequences if Baghdad is found to not comply with U-N demands for its disarmament. But it does not specifically mention military action the United States has threatened against Iraq if it does not give up nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons.

Speaking to the Security Council today (Friday), U-S ambassador John Negroponte said that one way or another Iraq will be disarmed. He says if the Security Council does not act decisively against Iraqi violations of the resolution, the resolution does not constrain any member state from defending itself against the threat of Iraqi weapons.

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