A Message From Mr. Bush
President Bush said the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan is "just the beginning" of the fight against terrorism, and he warned Iraq and North Korea there would be consequences for producing weapons of mass destruction.
The president, asked about Iraq and about potential military targets beyond the Afghanistan war, expanded on the list of ways a country can get crosswise with the U.S.-led coalition against terrorism.
"If anybody harbors a terrorist, they're a terrorist," he said Monday. "If they fund a terrorist, they're a terrorist. If they house terrorists, they're terrorists. I mean, I can't make it any more clear to other nations around the world."
"If they develop weapons of mass destruction that will be used to terrorize nations, they will be held accountable," the president said in a Rose Garden news conference.
In his speech to Congress following the Sept. 11 hijackings and suicide crashes, the president never mentioned weapons of mass destruction as a form of terrorism to be dealt with. But Monday, in a shift of emphasis, he linked them to Iraq, reports CBS News Correspondent Bill Plante.
the war in Afghanistan.
"As for Mr. Saddam Hussein, he needs to let inspectors back in his country to show us that he is not developing weapons of mass destruction," said the president.
Meanwhile, the White House said the president was happy with the cooperation of another Gulf nation, Yemen, in the U.S.-led war on terrorism — especially Yemen's agreement to put off a key terrorist trial until more evidence was amassed.
"They have shown a helpful new energy in combating terrorism," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.
He said Yemen has not only been cooperative in U.S. investigations of the Sept. 11 terror attacks on New York and Washington, but also of last year's attack on the USS Cole while it made refueling stop in port at Aden, Yemen.
Mr. Bush, who was welcoming President Ali Abdullah Saleh to the Oval Office Tuesday afternoon after his morning meeting with Secretary of State Colin Powell, "is pleased particularly with the follow-up on investigation of the Cole," Fleischer said.
The Cole bombing has been blamed on Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terror network.
Some advisers are pushing Mr. Bush to make Iraq his next target. Many of those aides worked for Mr. Bush's father, who led the country through the Persian Gulf War that ended with Saddam's promise to stop producing weapons of mass destruction and to open his nation to inspectors.
But Jim Steinberg, a former official of the National Security Council says taking on both terrorism and weapons of mass destruction could fracture the international alliance against terrorism.
"If we say that this is the same problem as the problem of terrorism, we're going to run the risk of countries saying the United States is trying to accomplis too much and too many different things here," says Steinberg. "And we can't support them in that."
Iraq's U.N. ambassador, Mohammed al-Douri, said the Iraqi government will not allow U.N. weapons inspectors to return as long as the Security Council maintains sanctions imposed after Saddam's 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
"Our position is very clear on that question — that we will not permit any ... weapons inspectors," he said. "We have nothing to inspect."
Mr. Bush said the leaders of North Korea must allow inspectors in if they want good relations with the United States.
"And they ought to stop proliferating," said Mr. Bush, adding that "part of the war on terror is to deny terrorists weapons."
Since the presidential campaign, Mr. Bush has urged Iraq and North Korea to allow weapons inspectors into their nations. He has warned Iraq of undisclosed consequences if they don't comply. The administration has long suspected both countries of trying to develop weapons of mass destruction.
He brushed aside suggestions that his new language meant a shift in tone against either country.
"I've always had that definition as far as I'm concerned," said Mr. Bush.
His admonition Monday was the first in the context of questions about the next phase of the anti-terrorism war. Military successes against the Taliban have led some administration officials to consider options beyond Afghanistan.
U.S. allies have expressed reservations about targeting Iraq.
"I think what the president was referring to is the obvious and well-known fact that Iraq and North Korea are already listed on the State Department list of nations that sponsor terrorism," Fleischer said.
Mr. Bush did not mention the State Department list, which includes Iran, Sudan, Cuba, Libya and Syria.
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