Bush tells veterans conflict with Iraq may be necessary

WASHINGTON -- In somber tribute to soldiers of wars past, President Bush said Monday he will commit "the full force and might of the United States military" against Iraq if Saddam Hussein refuses to disarm swiftly.

As the rubber-stamping Iraqi parliament condemned a U.S.-backed United Nations resolution, Bush used two Veterans Day addresses to underscore his impatience.

"The time to confront this threat is before it arrives, not the day after," he told several dozen veterans during an East Room ceremony.

Behind the scenes, Bush has approved tentative Pentagon plans for invading Iraq should a new U.N. arms inspection effort fail to rid the nation of weapons of mass destruction. The strategy calls for a land, sea and air force of 200,000 to 250,000 troops, administration officials said, as they sought to build up pressure on Saddam to relent.

"We have to keep, in a sense, a gun pointed to the head of the Iraqi regime because that's the only way they cooperate," Bush's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, told National Public Radio's "The Travis Smiley Show."

The talk of war grew to a crescendo just three days after the U.N. Security Council approved a tough new resolution with an unexpected 15-0 vote. Iraq has until Friday to accept the resolution that would send U.N. inspectors back to Baghdad.

With the clock ticking, Bush traveled across the Potomac River to visit Arlington National Cemetery, lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns, praise America's veterans and pledge his resolve against terrorism and Iraq.

"We will not permit a dictator who has used weapons of mass destruction to threaten America with chemical, biological or nuclear weapons," the president said. "This great nation will not live at the mercy of any foreign plot or power."

Bush began his day with a pre-dawn visit to the Vietnam War Memorial. As a chilly rain pelted his umbrella, Bush placed an American flag at the base of the black granite wall, where 58,229 names of those killed or missing in the war from 1959 to 1975 are inscribed.

Later, at the East Room reception, Bush said America owes its freedom to the ex-soldiers gathered before him and its greatness to their postwar service. "Our veterans from every era are the finest of citizens," the president said. "We owe them the life we know today."

He carried the theme to the cemetery, where white headstones honor 260,000 American heroes.

"We remember those who served America by fighting and dying on the field of battle, and we remember those veterans who lived on for many decades to serve America in many ways," Bush said.