REMARKS BY PRESIDENT BUSH AND
JOSE MARIA AZNAR
PRESIDENT OF SPAIN

WHITE HOUSE

February 22, 2003

Excerpts

. . .

Q Mr. President, you need nine votes in the Security Council, and no vetoes. And yet, as of this point, only four countries have spoken out in favor of moving forward and no minds seem to have been changed. Are you ready to move ahead now with this new resolution, even if you don't have the votes to pass it?

And to the Prime Minister -- President Aznar -- you've been making many calls yourself to world leaders and members of the Security Council. Have you been able to change anyone's mind? And if not, why not?

PRESIDENT BUSH: There's not even a resolution put on the table yet. There will be one soon. And so the people will be able to see what they're asked to vote on. We just got off a phone call with Tony Blair and Silvio Berlusconi. It was a four-way conversation to talk about the resolution and the strategy.

This discussion sounds vaguely familiar. I think I remember getting asked the same questions prior to the last resolution, the Resolution 1441 that passed 15 to zero; where the Security Council said, with a unanimous voice, Saddam must disarm. He hasn't disarmed. And so the clarity of vision that took place four months ago I'm confident will be in place after the Security Council takes a good look at the facts. And so we're just beginning, is my point.

PRESIDENT AZNAR: I hear many messages on unilateral actions. But what I must say is that President Bush, the U.S. government and all the allies are all working together in the framework of the United Nations. And that's how Resolution 1441 came out. And that's how the new resolution we're working on has to come out.

It's difficult to ask for an agreement on something that doesn't exist yet. We'll ask for people's agreement when it does exist. We hope it's soon. We hope it's good. And we hope it assembles the greatest possible supporters. Because what we cannot forget is that our aim is disarmament and to avoid the threat that weapons of mass destruction, a possible use by Saddam Hussein, the threat that this poses to the world.

Q My question is for the Spanish President of the government. Regarding this new proposal for a new resolution, we know it will bear the seal of the United States and of Great Britain. But will it also bear the Spanish seal? Will Spain be considered or will it be a co-author of that resolution?

PRESIDENT AZNAR: Well, we're working on it, and we devoted some time last night and this morning to precisely that. And we want to be as clear

as possible in that it has as many possible supporters in the Security Council. And as I said, our commitment is a very active commitment, and it's also very active in supporting this resolution. We know very much and very well what we're handling here and what's at stake. And what we want for the world is peace and security, and that's what we're working for with our best will, in order not to be submitted to blackmail of any kind. We're not thinking of our comfort, but of our responsibility. We want peace, freedom and prosperity for all.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Patsy.

Q It took almost two months to get Resolution 1441 out of the Security Council. Are you willing to wait that long this time, and is this the really last chance for the United Nations to prove its relevancy?

PRESIDENT BUSH: Yes. Si. Last chance.

Q Are you going to wait that long?

PRESIDENT BUSH: No. As the President said, time is short. And this is a chance for the Security Council to show its relevance. And I believe the Security Council will show its relevance, because Saddam Hussein has not disarmed.

PRESIDENT AZNAR: What I want to say is that if Resolution 1441 states that it's Saddam's last opportunity, that means that time cannot be long, because the last opportunity has already been given to him. What we have to verify now is whether he has disarmed, or not. If we now said that time was infinite, it would be a laugh. It would be very difficult for anyone to take us seriously, beginning with the United Nations. That would be the worst possible message we could send for peace.

Q My question is addressed to both Presidents. I would like to know whether in your proposed resolution you are going to be talking about the al-Samoud long-range missiles and whether you are going to be -- because Iraq has today mentioned that it was ready to start destroying them -- and whether in your resolution you're going to be speaking about an ultimatum, a deadline, or a threat for the use of force. What do you think this is going to be -- what are you going to contain?

PRESIDENT BUSH: We're in the process of discussing the language. If Iraq decides to destroy the weapons that were long-range weapons, that's just the tip of the iceberg. My question is, why don't they destroy every weapon -- illegal weapon.

Saddam Hussein wants time. And after all, he thinks he will get time, because he has done so -- he has deceived the world for 12 years. He'll play like he's going to disarm; he has no intention of disarming. Otherwise, he would have done so. He'll say words that encourage -- that sound encouraging. He's done so for 12 years. And so the idea of destroying a rocket or two rockets or however many he's going to destroy says to me that he's got a lot more weapons to destroy, and why hadn't he destroyed them yet?

In terms of language, that's exactly why we -- that's exactly why Jose Maria and I are talking. And we'll let you know what's in the resolution when we put it down.

PRESIDENT AZNAR: Well, what I want to say is that we cannot designate Saddam Hussein as the manager of international peace and security. We've been with this item on the agenda for 12 years. And what we cannot do is play this game in which you have inspectors are handed over something, everything is going well, but if it isn't, well, that means they're hiding weapons.

So the world can make these mistakes, but the mistake we cannot make is to let Saddam Hussein being the one managing peace and a threat. And that's why we're working so intensely towards a new resolution. And that's why I'm convinced and that's why we're all working towards these common aspirations of peace, security and freedom for the world.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Good job. Thank you all.