Bush Urges Iraqis to Revolt

WASHINGTON-- President Bush on Wednesday urged Iraqi soldiers to disobey orders from “killers who occupy the high levels” of the Iraqi government, vowing again to disarm Saddam Hussein even as France and Germany blocked NATO from deciding whether to help if there is a war.

“It’s time for us to hold the world to account, and for Saddam to be held to account,” an impassioned Bush said in a speech that otherwise centered on the economy.

With the U.S. pressing ahead with its military buildup in the Persian Gulf, the White House stepped up a carefully choreographed campaign aimed at influencing Iraqi troops, wary American voters and reluctant international partners.

But North Atlantic Treaty Organization envoys meeting in Brussels demonstrated just how difficult the sell may be during a heated debate over whether to help any U.S. attack on Iraq. France and Germany, which favor allowing U.N. weapons inspections to continue, led the opposition to the U.S. request. The U.S. would like NATO’s political support as well as the use of its troops and equipment.

At the heart of the dispute between the U.S. and some of its European allies is whether Iraq is complying with the inspections. Bush on Wednesday described Iraq’s declaration of its weapons program as “12,000 pages of deceit and deception,” and he appeared to deride the effectiveness of the U.N. inspection program by referring to “so-called inspectors,” a phrase repeated by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.

Bush also made an unusually direct appeal to the Iraqi military.

“There will be serious consequences for any Iraqi general or soldier who were to use weapons of mass destruction on our troops,” he said. “When Iraq is liberated, you will be treated, tried and persecuted as a war criminal.”

The pace of diplomatic activity has accelerated just days before critical sessions at the United Nations next week. Inspectors are to deliver a report seen as an important step in deciding whether the program should continue or Iraq should be disarmed by force.

Chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix on Wednesday strongly criticized Iraq for failing to actively cooperate.

On his return to U.N. headquarters after a two-day trip to Baghdad, Blix said Iraq had provided adequate access for inspectors and had promised to urge scientists to accept private interviews. But he said Iraqi officials had not filled in the gaps in their arms declaration, have been blocking unchaperoned meetings with scientists, and had placed conditions on the flights of U-2 spy planes.

“The question of course is, are these just pieces of ice that have broken up, or the tip of the iceberg?” Blix said. Asked if Iraq was actively cooperating with council demands, Blix said, “No, I don’t think they have come to that stage yet.”

Blix said that when he questioned his Iraqi counterparts about discrepancies involving anthrax, VX nerve gas or Scud missiles, they “simply say there is nothing left of this, and there is no evidence that we can view, there are no more documents.”

Despite inspectors’ criticisms, Blix is expected to report to the council on Monday that inspections are only in “midcourse” and to ask for more time to hunt for weapons of mass destruction.

The White House has made it clear that it sees little reason to continue inspections. Even Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, who is seen as a voice of restraint and patience on Iraq, signaled Wednesday that he believes the U.S. already has adequate evidence of Iraqi noncompliance.

“We have enough to make a judgment,” Powell said in a television interview, “but we’re going to wait and see what the inspectors say on Monday.”

The question of whether to continue inspections has put the White House at odds with two longtime U.S. allies, Germany and France, whose leaders held a joint news conference Wednesday in Versailles to say they are united in opposition to war.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said he would use “all his power” to avoid military action in Iraq.

By contrast, British Prime Minister Tony Blair asserted in London that Britain would support a U.S.-led war in Iraq without United Nations backing if any countries created an “unreasonable blockage” on a Security Council resolution.

Another sign of the widening split among Europeans came in Brussels, where France and Germany blocked the decision on whether NATO should provide indirect assistance to a U.S.-led war against Iraq.

Last week, the United States formally asked the 19-nation alliance to consider six measures to provide indirect military assistance in case of a war, mainly to protect NATO ally Turkey against possible Iraqi attacks.

White House officials sought Wednesday to downplay international opposition.

“Germany has been a problem, and France has been a problem,” Rumsfeld said. “But you look at vast numbers of other countries in Europe. They’re not with France and Germany on this, they’re with the United States.”

Even so, the opposition of two long-standing U.S. allies has complicated the diplomatic course for a White House that is continuing to build up for war.

Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Wednesday that the United States already has enough troops and equipment in the region to launch a military strike on Iraq.

“We’re ready now,” Myers said. “The Iraqi regime should have no doubt that if the president of the United States decides to take action today, we’re ready today.”

Myers also said U.S. intelligence has gathered signs that Iraq’s senior military ranks may be splintering. “There are some indications about unrest in some of the Iraqi leadership,” he said, “but just hints.”

Rumsfeld also announced that Pentagon briefings are now being broadcast by radio to the Iraqi population, citing the broadcasts as part of an effort to expose a regime “built on terror, intimidation and lies.”

Rumsfeld described the broadcasts during a news conference with the foreign media during which he acknowledged that anti-American sentiment is rising around the world in part because “the United States is not very effective in public diplomacy.”

More troubling for the White House may be signs that American voters are beginning to have misgivings about going to war with Iraq without broad international support.

White House officials scrambled Wednesday to dispute suggestions in recent polls that support among Americans for war against Iraq may be wavering.

White House political advisor Karl Rove rattled off the results of half a dozen polls and said levels of support are roughly the same as last summer. “I look at these polls and I see remarkable stability for taking military action against Iraq,” Rove said.

The polls indicate that a majority of Americans generally support the use of force against Iraq. But support weakens if the U.S. doesn’t have U.N. backing.

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Staff writers Maggie Farley at the United Nations and Paul Richter, Maura Reynolds, Robin Wright and Warren Vieth in Washington contributed to this report.