Blair Backs Bush Push On Iraq

"I am in no doubt that the threat is serious and current, that he has made progress on (weapons of mass destruction), and that he has to be stopped," Prime Minister Tony Blair said in an introduction to the dossier.

"Unless we face up to the threat, not only do we risk undermining the authority of the U.N., whose resolutions he defies, but more importantly and in the longer term, we place at risk the lives and prosperity of our own people."

The president fully embraces the British dossier on Iraq, reports CBS News White House Correspondent Mark Knoller, saying it shows that Saddam Hussein is a threat to peace.

Mr. Bush said there is further evidence that should prompt the U.N. to pass a tough resolution on Iraq holding Saddam to account.

"And if they're unable to do so, the United States and our friends will act because we believe in peace," Mr. Bush said. "We want to keep the peace."

The president also brushed aside criticism of his Iraq policy from Al Gore, saying a lot of democrats understand that Saddam is a true threat.

Baghdad dismissed the charges.

"His allegations are long, his evidence is short," said Saadi.

"His evidence is a hotchpotch of half truths, lies, short sighted and naive allegation which will not hold after a brief investigation by competent and independent experts in the related fields," he said.

The presidential adviser said he expected U.N. inspectors to arrive in Iraq in mid-October if there was "no interference from an outside party."

Earlier, an Iraqi official called Blair's claims "totally baseless."

"The British prime minister is serving the campaign of lies led by Zionists against Iraq. Blair is part of this misleading campaign," Iraqi Culture Minister Hammed Youssef Hammadi told reporters in Baghdad.

The report on Iraq's military strength released in London Tuesday says Saddam attaches great importance to weapons of mass destruction as the basis of Iraq's regional power.

"It shows that he does not regard them only as weapons of last resort. He is ready to use them, including against his own population, and is determined to retain them, in breach of United Nations Security Council resolutions," the report said.

Iraq says it has no weapons of mass destruction and on Tuesday demanded Britain hand over the dossier to U.N. weapons inspectors to verify its contents.

"We invite Mr. Blair to pass on his dossier to UNMOVIC (U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission) and the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) for proper assessment and soon enough the truth will come out," Saadi said.

If Saddam refuses to allow the United Nations to return to Iraq and complete the task of dismantling weapons, Blair said, the international community will have to act.

"We must insure that he does not get to use the weapons he has, or get hold of the weapons he wants," Blair said.

The dossier provided a highly detailed history of Iraq's efforts to build weapons of mass destruction, and an assessment of its current capabilities based on British and allied intelligence.

However, there appeared to be little new information in the report. Analysts have been warning for years that Saddam has continued to develop chemical and biological weapons and has also tried to develop nuclear weapons, although with little sign of success.

The dossier was released hours before Parliament convened in a special session to debate possible military action against Iraq.

Some of Blair's toughest opponents on Iraq are in his own Labor Party, reports CBS News' Steve Holt. They claim his latest charges against Saddam are nothing new.

"Tony Blair will have to do better than this if he wants to convince the British public to go to war," said Labor lawmaker Diane Abbott.

"The reality is this is a war about George Bush, arms and oil, and we will be questioning Blair very closely about why Britain cannot have a foreign policy independent of the U.S. administration," said fellow Labor lawmaker Jeremy Corbyn.

Within minutes of the release of the dossier, anti-war protesters outside Parliament began blasting John Lennon's "Give Peace a Chance."

The dossier said Iraq has military plans for the use of chemical and biological weapons, including against the country's Shia Muslim community. Some of the weapons are ready to be used within 45 minutes of an order being issued, it said.

The report rejected Iraqi claims that it has destroyed its biological weapons, saying Baghdad may retain huge stocks of anthrax. Iraq now has mobile laboratories for developing biological warfare agents, the report said.

Amid reports that Saddam has been trying for years to gain nuclear weapons, the British report said Baghdad tried to acquire significant quantities of uranium from Africa and has covertly tried to acquire technology and materials for the production of nuclear weapons.

Iraq has retained up to 20 al-Hussein missiles with a range of 400 miles, capable of carrying chemical or biological warheads, and is working to increase the range of other missiles, the report said.

The prime minister said the assessment was based on highly classified intelligence material but gave no more details.

The report included a map which showed that Iraqi weapons now being developed could reach Israel, the whole of the Middle East, Greece and Turkey.

If U.N. sanctions against Iraq were lifted, Saddam could develop a nuclear weapon within 12 months to two years, said the dossier.

A report published earlier this month by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies said Iraq retains substantial chemical and biological weapons and could assemble a nuclear weapon within months if it obtained radioactive material.