Fiery Iraq Rhetoric Gets Hotter

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein said Saturday he had no choice but to accept a tough, new U.N. weapons inspection resolution because the United States and Israel had shown their "claws and teeth" and declared unilateral war on the Iraqi people.

In an open letter to Iraq's parliament, Saddam said he hoped the weapons inspectors would help the U.N. Security Council "to see the truth as it really is about Iraq being completely free of weapons of mass destruction."

The advance team of inspectors is expected in Baghdad on Monday after a four-year absence. Under a new resolution approved last week, the inspectors are empowered to go anywhere and interview anyone to determine if Iraq still has banned weapons. Failure to cooperate fully will probably bring a U.S.-led attack.

Saddam told Parliament in the letter he accepted the resolution "because your enemy, the alliance between Zionism and the American administration has ... after showing its claws and teeth, decided to wage war unilaterally against our people."

"If the unjust persist in their wrongdoing, then you know that the potentials and obligations that we carry from our revolution to withstand all injustice will ensure their defeat," he added.

The Revolutionary Command Council, the top decision-making body headed by Saddam, decided on Wednesday to accept the resolution. The rubber-stamp parliament had earlier recommended rejecting it but left the final decision to the Iraqi leader.

Addressing the legislators as "esteemed brothers and comrades," Saddam said "your enemy has returned, once again, to camouflaging its schemes under the cover of the Security Council, which has ... infringed upon all that may represent the conscience of international unanimity."

Saddam's comments came shortly before the Iraqi military claimed that a U.S.-British airstrike in southern Iraq on Friday killed seven civilians and wounded four.

The unidentified military spokesman told the official Iraqi News Agency that warplanes bombed areas in Najaf province, 93 miles south of Baghdad on Friday.

The report didn't provide further details. The U.S. military did not comment immediately and it was impossible to independently verify the claim.

On Friday, a Pentagon statement said the bombing was in response to Iraq's firing surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft guns at American and British warplanes patrolling a no-fly zone.

It was the first coalition strike on Iraq since Baghdad accepted the Security Council resolution on Wednesday.

U.S. officials consider the incident a violation of the U.N. resolution.

The big question was whether the incident could lead to war.

CBS News correspondent David Martin reports that U.S. officials intend to report this incident to the Security Council, but it will be up to the council to decide whether this constitutes a violation of the resolution. And that doesn't seem likely since not all the members support the U.S. and British operations in the no-fly zones.

In his weekly radio address Saturday, President Bush took aim at Baghdad. "Any act of defiance or delay will indicate that he (Saddam) is taking the path of deception once again, and this time the consequences would be severe," Mr. Bush said.

"Our goal is not merely the return of inspectors to Iraq; our goal is the disarmament of Iraq. The dictator of Iraq will give up his weapons of mass destruction, or the United States will lead a coalition to disarm him," the president added.

Mr. Bush also tried to reassure Americans that his administration had a "productive week" in the war against terror, and to ward off charges that his focus on Iraq was hurting the battle versus terrorism.

"We're committed to defending the nation," Mr. Bush said. "Our war against terrorists and their supporters is advancing on all fronts."

"This was a productive week in the war against terror, both at home and abroad," he said.

Among other things, the president cited a breakthrough agreement in Congress this week to approve his request for a Homeland Security Department.

On Thursday, Mr. Bush had to confront questions raised by Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., about "whether or not we are winning the war on terror." Also this week, a new FBI bulletin warned that bin Laden's al Qaeda network could be plotting "spectacular attacks." In addition, a new, recent audio tape surfaced of a voice that is supposedly Bin Laden's.

Daschle stated the obvious - "We can't find bin Laden" - but his words both stung and worried Bush advisers.

White House officials acknowledged Friday they are increasingly anxious about Democrats winning political points with their criticism that Mr. Bush's focus on Iraq is distracting him from the persistent threats from al Qaeda.

The U.N. team will begin preliminary inspections of suspected weapons sites on Nov. 27, according to chief inspector Hans Blix. He then has 60 days to report back to the council with his findings.

"We hope and expect to have full Iraqi cooperation," Blix said Saturday in Paris. "A denial of access or a delayed access ... this would be a serious thing."

The unanimous Security Council vote for the United Nations resolution on Iraq greatly strengthens the hand of weapons inspectors headed to Baghdad, Blix said. "If there is not full cooperation by Iraq we will be backed up in full by the council.

The council voted 15-0 on Nov. 8 to demand that Iraq allow the return of inspectors to search for evidence of alleged weapons of mass destruction or face "serious consequences."

Blix said technological improvements since U.N. inspectors were last in Iraq in 1998 would strengthen their ability to uncover suspected Iraqi chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs.

For example, satellite photographs have increased greatly in resolution in the past four years, and tests to measure the presence of weapons materials are more precise, Blix said.

"The tiniest little thing can be detected," he said.

Still, the inspector said there are difficulties finding underground or mobile sites.

Blix was in Paris on his way to Cyprus, where an advance team of U.N. inspectors was gathering. The team is expected to fly to Baghdad on Monday.

In the Iraqi capital, a government newspaper on Saturday urged the arms experts to resist U.S. pressure and not create pretexts that could open the way for an attack on Iraq.

In Cairo, Amr Moussa, secretary general of the Arab League, also urged the inspectors to carry out their mission in "a neutral ... and honest way which will endorse their credibility."

Arab countries have urged Iraq to cooperate with inspections, and warned that a U.S.-Iraq war could create instability throughout the volatile region.

Meanwhile, a London newspaper reported Saturday that Libya agreed to give Saddam's family and leading members of his regime asylum in Libya if Iraq goes to war with the United States, for a $3.5 billion price tag.

The Times said Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi would not give refuge to Saddam or for his eldest son Odai. But it said Saddam's extended family and 12 senior officials would get sanctuary.

Syria had agreed to provide an overland escape route, allowing the Iraqis to fly on to Libya, the paper said.

Libyan Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassouna al-Shawish denied the report, the official Libyan news agency JANA said.