Bush Calls
Sat Aug 10,
By Steve Holland
WACO, Texas (Reuters) - President Bush on Saturday described
Iraq as an "enemy until proven otherwise" but said he had no timetable
for deciding whether to use military force to topple Iraqi President Saddam
Hussein.
"I described them as the 'axis of evil' once. I
describe them as an enemy until proven otherwise," Bush told reporters
after teeing off at the Ridgewood Country Club Golf Course.
The president, who is on a four-week vacation at his
Crawford, Texas, ranch, sought to play down expectations of any imminent attack
on Iraq, which the United States accuses of seeking chemical, biological and
possibly nuclear weapons.
Asked if Americans were prepared for casualties in a war
with
"But I do believe what the American people understand
is that weapons of mass destruction in the hands of leaders such as Saddam
Hussein are very dangerous for ourselves," he said. "They understand
the concept of blackmail.
"They know that when we speak of making the world more safe we do so not only in the context of al Qaeda and other terrorist groups but nations that have
proved themselves to be bad neighbors and bad
actors," he added.
Bush launched the
Under increasing pressure from some members of Congress and
many foreign allies not to launch an unprovoked attack on the longtime Gulf foe, Bush said he was consulting with the
"I have no timetable for any of our policies with
regards to
Asked if he was surprised he had not built more support for action
against Saddam, Bush said: "Most people understand he is a danger, but as
I have said in speech after speech I have a lot of tools at my disposal. I have
also said I am a deliberate person."
In his State of the Union speech at the start of the year
Bush described
Against a backdrop of
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