World Not Yet Convinced On Iraq

Some nations, after hearing calls by President Bush for a tougher stance against Iraq, continued to worry that Washington is leaning too much toward a fight.

European countries, largely skittish of an attack on Iraq, seemed encouraged by Mr. Bush's announcement that Secretary of State Colin Powell would go before the U.N. Security Council next week to present the U.S. case against Iraq.

The speech happened in the middle of the night in Europe, so most leaders and opinion makers got it second hand, and in most cases, through translation, reports CBS News Correspondent Steve Holt in London. Financial Times chief reporter Steve Fiddler said that inevitably lessens its emotional impact.

"I don't think it's going to change people's minds, except in the fact that it's a show of U.S. determination," he said.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Tony Blair — Mr. Bush's strongest ally against Iraq — on Wednesday praised the president's State of the Union address for bluntly stating the case for disarming Saddam Hussein.

France was clearly leaving the door open for support of an American military intervention, reports CBS News Correspondent Elaine Cobbe. French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said his country would look carefully at the information and use it to decide what action might be needed. France has said all along that if it were a U.N.-backed intervention, it would play its part.

Once the intelligence is evaluated, de Villepin said it would be up to the United Nations to decide on the next step. France has repeatedly voiced opposition to any unilateral action by the United States against Iraq.

"France has taken a clear position since the beginning and the majority of the world community not only understands this position but shares it," he said in an interview with RTL radio.

A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said Wednesday there is no justification for an attack against Iraq now, and issued a veiled warning to the U.S. that it shouldn't act alone against Iraq, reports CBS News Correspondent Bill Gasperini. The spokesman added that only the U.N. Security Council can approve military action, but for right now, Russia does not see any need for it. He also restated Russia's position that the U.N. weapons inspectors must have more time to complete their work in Iraq.

Spokesman Alexander Yakovenko also said President Bush stressed "the need for an uncompromising struggle against international terrorism, which is one of the main modern threats."

German president Johannes Rau cautioned Washington against taking unilateral action against Saddam Hussein, arguing that the fight against terrorism and dictatorship "is not a matter for one state."

Later, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder reiterated that only the council could approve a U.S. attack. "We will not let up in our efforts to resolve this conflict without a war," Schroeder said during a trip to Mexico.

Sweden's Prime Minister Goeran Persson called Mr. Bush's State of the Union address "an important signal" adding that it showed the president was serious about having "the international community behind him."

"He still opens up for Saddam Hussein to come to his senses and hand over his weapons of mass destruction," said Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller.

And Norway's foreign minister, Jan Petersen, said he did not see the address as a declaration of war.

"The message in the address is that it puts tremendous pressure on Saddam Hussein, but it is important to note that Bush is still following the U.N. route," he said.

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana welcomed the offer by the United States to share intelligence on Iraq at the United Nations.

"The EU continues to believe the place where this debate should be is in the (U.N. Security) Council," Solana said. "We have to put in place all the elements in order to avoid the catastrophe of war."

NATO Wednesday again put off a decision on the U.S. request to start planning a support role in case of war with Iraq.

Kuwait's defense minister said the president was right to call Saddam dangerous and did not rule out U.S. troops using his country as a launch pad — even if an Iraq attack was not sanctioned by the United Nations.

Sheik Jaber Mubarak Al Sabah's comments were the clearest Arab endorsement yet of the U.S. position on Iraq and reflected growing frustration with Saddam in the region.

But Arab League chief Amr Moussa said President Bush's speech did nothing to undermine appeals that U.N. inspectors should have more time to judge whether Iraq no longer has weapons of mass destruction, as it claims.

"This calls for requesting complete cooperation from the Iraqi government regarding the inspectors and vice versa," Moussa said.

The Saudi daily Okaz urged Iraq to abide by Security Council demands to surrender nuclear, chemical and biological weapons so as "not to give America any pretexts to surprise it with a war, whose dangers no country in the region will be spared."

"We tell Iraq frankly: Enough provocation, procrastination and delaying," Okaz said in an editorial Wednesday.

In Japan, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda called Mr. Bush's speech "a forceful, strong message" and said disarming Iraq is a concern of the whole world.

Some countries, including China — Asia's only permanent member of the U.N. Security Council — had no immediate official response.