Bush In Telephone Tango Over Iraq

China, Russia And France Are Unconvinced Attack Is Justified

(CBS)  President Bush used telephone diplomacy Friday to try to persuade three skeptical nations — China, Russia and France — that action against Iraq is urgently needed.

In a round of early morning calls from the Oval Office, Mr. Bush talked with Presidents Jacques Chirac of France, Jiang Zemin of China and Vladimir Putin of Russia. Each could use their votes on the United Nations Security Council to veto resolutions aimed at Saddam.

The president spent a total of about 30 minutes on the phone in separate calls to the three leaders, reports CBS News Correspondent Mark Knoller.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer called it the start of a consultation process about Iraq.

Fleischer said Mr. Bush "told the foreign leaders that he values their opinion and he stressed that Saddam Hussein was a threat and that we need to work together to make the world peaceful." He said Mr. Bush has not decided how to oust Saddam, and thus did not share any plans with the leaders.

Chirac wasn't convinced by Mr. Bush's call, repeating his long-standing position that any military action against Baghdad should be decided by the U.N. Security Council, said Catherine Colonna, a Chirac spokeswoman.

Putin talked to Mr. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who has emerged as Mr. Bush's closest ally on Iraq. The Russian president told Blair there was "a real potential" for a political solution to the crisis around Baghdad's alleged stockpiling of weapons of mass destruction, a Kremlin press service statement said.

In Beijing, the official Xinhua News Agency said the American and Chinese leaders discussed Iraq.

Mr. Bush promised to send diplomats to each of the three nations to continue consultations after he addresses the U.N. on Sept. 12.

The telephone conversations could lay the groundwork for the administration requesting the Security Council adopt a resolution setting a deadline for Iraq to admit weapons inspectors or risk punitive action.

Also Friday, Mr. Bush met with his foreign policy team on Iraq and was meeting with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld at the White House.

Rumsfeld, Vice President Dick Cheney, and CIA Director George Tenet met at the Pentagon on Thursday with the bipartisan group of senators in hopes of building support for a congressional a resolution giving Mr. Bush authority to act against Saddam. Cheney and Tenet met separately with congressional leadership on Capitol Hill.

In remarks to reporters, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle indicated he will not be rushed to judgment on Iraq.

"I'm more concerned about getting this done right than getting it done quickly," the South Dakota Democrat said. "And getting it done right means that we have to ensure that we have the answers to questions that you've heard many of us ask now for the last several days."

On Saturday, Blair meets with Mr. Bush at his Camp David presidential retreat on Saturday. On Monday, the president meets with Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien, who said this week he has yet to see evidence to justify Canadian support for a military campaign against Iraq.

Blair, in comments broadcast Friday, offered some of his strongest words of support yet for the U.S., saying Britain was prepared to shed blood to support its American allies.

Blair said the two countries have a "special relationship" that has to be backed up with action.

"What is important ... is that at moments of crisis they don't need to know simply that you are giving general expressions of support and sympathy,'' Blair told an interviewer.

"That is easy, frankly. They need to know: Are you prepared to commit, are you prepared to be there when the shooting starts?''

Asked if Britain is ready to pay a "blood price" to support the United States, Blair answered affirmatively.

In his speech to the U.N. next week, Mr. Bush plans to restate the argument he made in public Wednesday, that the Security Council was obligated to hold Iraq accountable for not complying with the U.N. resolutions, U.S. officials said.

The officials confirmed he was reviewing several ideas, including giving Saddam a last-ditch deadline for allowing unfettered access to weapons inspectors, but said the president and his advisers had determined that Friday was too soon to show his hand.

Indeed, he does not plan to break major new ground in a Sept. 12 address to the United Nations; aides who have seen early drafts say Bush makes a forceful case for ousting Saddam and warns the United Nations that its credibility and relevancy is on the line. While there is no "huge divergence" on what to say, the topic is still the subject of lively discussions within the administration, one official said.

Aides say concrete plans to oust Saddam will likely wait for another speech, perhaps a joint session of Congress, once Mr. Bush is finished consulting with allies and lawmakers and makes a final decision on how to handle Saddam.