Bush Seeks Backing For War

President Bush is asking Congress Thursday for authority to use military force to disarm and overthrow Iraq's Saddam Hussein, saying the United States will take action on its own if the U.N. Security Council balks.

The president was sending Congress his proposed wording for a resolution that he wants lawmakers to approve before they adjourn to campaign for the Nov. 5 elections.

"That will be part of the resolution – authorization to use force. If you want to keep the peace, you've got to have the authorization to use force," Mr. Bush told reporters in the Oval Office.

"This is a chance for Congress to indicate support, a chance for Congress to say we support the administration's ability to keep the peace, that's what this is all about."

The president also served notice, in his bluntest language to date, that he expects a tough new resolution on Iraq from the United Nations, reports CBS News Correspondent Mark Knoller.

"The United Nations Security Council must work with the United States and Britain and other concerned parties to send a clear message that we expect Saddam to disarm and if the United Nations Security Council won't deal with the problem, the United States and some of its friends will."

Mr. Bush declined to name any of the allies he's counting on for support, saying only that "time will tell."

"I think you're going to see that a lot of nations love freedom. ... We're confident that people will follow our lead," he added.

As he spoke, White House advisers were behind the scenes telephoning congressional leaders with notice that Mr. Bush's proposed resolution was on its way to Capitol Hill.

Mr. Bush said he wanted Congress to give him not only the power to make war with Saddam, but also an explicit restatement of U.S. policy that Saddam must be overthrown.

"That's the policy of the government," he said, adding that he wanted Congress' approval before lawmakers adjourn to campaign for the Nov. 5 elections.

Three senior White House aides familiar with the resolution's draft said it would give the president "maximum flexibility" to confront the threat posed by Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, including an explicit OK to use military force.

The resolution was expected to win overwhelming support from both parties in the House and Senate, possibly within two weeks. Although some prominent Democrats have called for caution, both Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., and House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., said they supported Mr. Bush on the issue.

"We want to make sure that whatever we do, we make the right decision," said Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-Texas.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday that Congress must act before the Security Council does.

"Delaying a vote in the Congress would send a message that the U.S. may be unprepared to take a stand, just as we are asking the international community to take a stand and as we are cautioning the Iraqi regime to consider its options," Rumsfeld said.

Russia and France, two of the five Security Council members with veto power, were against any new U.N. resolutions concerning Iraq, as were Arab nations. Rumsfeld and Mr. Bush dismissed Saddam's latest offer as a ploy to stall for time.

"He's not going to fool anybody," Mr. Bush said after meeting with congressional leaders Wednesday.

While U.N. officials in New York prepared for the inspectors' return, U.S. and British officials began working on a new U.N. resolution aimed at authorizing use of force should Baghdad fail to comply with Security Council resolutions.

Western diplomats said the U.S.-British draft likely would include new instructions for weapons inspectors and a timetable for disarmament that would be tighter than one laid out in an existing resolution passed in December 1999.

Britain, which helps the United States patrol the no-fly zone over southern Iraq, has been the staunchest public ally for Mr. Bush's threats of war. Rumsfeld said several other U.S. allies have said privately they would support a military strike against Iraq, but he declined to say which countries or how many.

"There are a number of countries afraid of Saddam Hussein" and therefore reluctant to let their cooperation be known publicly, Rumsfeld said.

In Baghdad, CBS News Correspondent Mark Phillips reports local papers are saying that Iraq destroyed its weapons of mass destruction years ago and the U.S. push at the U.N. is just an excuse for the U.S. and Britain to launch an attack.

Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan says Iraq's decision to allow the unconditional return of U.N. weapons inspectors - not allowed since 1998 - is a "sincere move that would expose the U.S. administration's false claims on Iraq."

According to Iraq's state-run newspaper, Ramadan argues that "Iraq's initiative will provide the U.N. weapons inspectors with the chance to know for certain and from close up that Iraq is clear of weapons of mass destruction."