Gephardt says he would support toppling Iraq's Hussein

WASHINGTON -- House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt volunteered his support Tuesday if the administration resorts to force to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, adding, "I share President Bush's resolve to confront this menace head-on."

As Gephardt spoke, Bush told reporters that "one option, of course, is the military option" when it comes to the Iraqi leader. The president added he has no plans to attack, but "nevertheless these nations that I have named need to take America seriously."

"We should use diplomatic tools where we can, but military means where we must to eliminate the threat he poses to the region and our own security," Gephardt, a likely 2004 presidential contender, said in remarks to a foreign policy organization.

'Not just deter'

Gephardt alternately praised, prodded and poked the administration in a speech that ranged over the diplomatic and military implications of the war on terrorism.

"President Bush was right Saturday to say we are fighting a new war and will have to be ready to strike when necessary, not just deter," Gephardt said in the speech to the Council on Foreign Relations. "But on the home front, we are moving too slowly to develop a homeland defense plan that is tough enough for this new war."

Gephardt said Homeland Security director Tom Ridge should be made a member of the Cabinet and given authority over a security budget. Such suggestions would bring Ridge under formal congressional oversight, and Bush has thus far refused to go along with them.

Gephardt commended Bush for helping develop a stronger relationship between NATO and Russia. But he coupled those words with a call for additional funding to safeguard the remaining nuclear weapons from the former Soviet Union.

While he said the administration "deserves credit" for the military victory in Afghanistan, Gephardt said it would be shortsighted "if we stop now and withhold support for expanding the international security presence beyond Kabul."

House GOP responds

Bush branded Iraq as a member of the "axis of evil" in a speech last winter, and administration officials have not discouraged speculation that the war on terrorism might involve an effort to oust Saddam.

Within hours of the speech, the House Republican campaign committee said Gephardt's goal was to lay the groundwork for a presidential campaign and "change public perception about the Democratic party and national security." The group said Gephardt had voted in recent years to cut defense and intelligence spending from levels proposed by the GOP.