Iraqi Heads Offer to Duel Bush and Cheney in Man to Man Combat

["M. Junaid Alam" <redjaguar@xxxxxxxxx>]

W.H. rejects Bush-Saddam duel offer
>From Kelly Wallace (CNN Washington Bureau)
Thursday, October 3, 2002 Posted: 9:32 PM EDT (0132 GMT)




WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The White House scorned an Iraqi leader's suggestion
that President Bush and Saddam Hussein could resolve their differences in a
duel, calling it an "irresponsible statement" that did not justify a
"serious response."

"I just want to point out that in the past when Iraq had disputes, it
invaded its neighbors," White House press secretary Ari Fleischer told
reporters.

"There were no duels; there were no invasions. There was use of weapons of
mass destruction and [the] military. And that's how Iraq settles its
disputes."

Fleischer was responding to comments made Thursday by Iraqi Vice President
Taha Yassin Ramadan in an interview with Abu Dhabi television that was also
broadcast by CNN.

The Iraqi leader argued that instead of going to war with Iraq, Bush should
participate in a personal duel with Saddam.

"Bush wants to attack the whole Iraq, the army and the infrastructure,"
Ramadan said. "If such a call is genuine, then let the American president
and a selected group with him face a selected group of us and we choose a
neutral land and let [U.N. Secretary-General] Kofi Annan be a supervisor and
both groups should use the same weapon."

"A president against a president and vice president against a vice
president, and a duel takes place, if they are serious," the Iraqi vice
president said. "And in this way we are saving the American and Iraqi
people."

In other developments, the White House voiced confidence that the United
Nations would ultimately approve a tough new resolution, even as Russia
rejected the U.S.-British draft, which calls for a timetable for Iraq to
comply with U.N. disarmament demands and military action if it does not
comply.

"I think what you're seeing is diplomacy unfold, and in the end, the
president remains optimistic the outcome will be solid," Fleischer said.

The press secretary disputed any notion that Bush is getting frustrated with
the pace of negotiations; three weeks after his U.N. speech, there is no
sign an agreement is imminent.

"I think the president understands how the U.N. works," Fleischer said. "And
when the president went up there, he said that this would be a matter of
days and weeks, not months. And it is not a matter of months."

Fleischer repeated that the United States believes inspectors should not
return to Iraq without a new inspections regime in place.

"If they go in under the current regime, it is a fool's errand to call them
inspectors. They will be nothing more than tourists who get a run-around,"
Fleischer said.

"There is widespread recognition in the Security Council that the existing
regime failed to do the job," he said. "It failed to disarm Saddam Hussein
and it has left a threat in place."

Hans Blix, chief of the U.N. weapons inspection team, briefed the U.N.
Security Council Thursday on his meetings with Iraqi officials. Blix will be
in Washington Friday to update U.S. officials.

Fleischer said Bush remained convinced that any U.N. resolution has to lay
out how Saddam has defied U.N. resolutions, what it would take for him to
comply and the consequences if he does not comply.

"Those are the three pillars that the president has outlined and that is
what the president expects, and that's what the president will fight for,
and that's what the president expects," Fleischer said, refusing to say
whether those requirements are non-negotiable.

The Senate Thursday debated the question of whether to use U.S. forces to
disarm Iraq, the chamber's senior Democrat warning that a pre-emptive strike
would turn the United States into a "rogue nation." (Full story)

With White House officials confident the president will have strong
bipartisan support in the Congress for a war resolution with Iraq, Bush has
turned his focus on pressing the United Nations to act and stressing that if
it doesn't, the United States would not have to act alone.

"The choice is up to the United Nations to show its resolve," Bush said in a
speech to Hispanic leaders. "The choice is up to Saddam Hussein to fulfill
his word. And if neither of them acts, the United States, in deliberate
fashion, will lead a coalition to take away the world's worst weapons from
one of the world's worst leaders.

"My intent is to put together a vast coalition of countries who understand
the threat of Saddam Hussein," Bush said.

Fleischer would not say how many countries have agreed to be part of any
military coalition or what help various countries have agreed to provide.

At least two countries, Romania and Bulgaria, have announced they would
allow U.S. forces to use their air bases and resources in a war against
Saddam Hussein.

"I think the days of anybody saying the United States would do anything
unilateral are over," Fleischer said. "I think it's very clear to everybody
what the United States is doing, it's doing with the support of many nations
around the world."


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