White House dismisses Saddam's warning against attack by U.S.

CRAWFORD, Texas -- The Bush administration was dismissive Thursday of Saddam Hussein's warning that any military force that attacked Iraq would "die in disgraceful failure."

As the administration weighs how to achieve its goal of ousting Hussein, the Iraqi leader issued the threat in a speech on the anniversary of the end of the 1980-88 Iraq-Iran war.

"The forces of evil will carry their coffins on their backs to die in disgraceful failure," he said in the televised speech. Hussein often uses the phrase "forces of evil" in reference to U.S. and British forces.

A White House spokesman, Scott McClellan, said Saddam's speech did not alter President Bush's view of Iraq in the slightest.

"The Iraqi government needs to comply with the responsibilities it agreed to at the end of the Gulf War," he told reporters covering Bush's stay here.

"The president has not decided on a particular course of action," he said. "We will consult with our friends and allies, as well as Congress, as we move forward."

As war talk increases, leaders of several Iraqi opposition groups are in Washington and scheduled to meet Friday with senior U.S. officials at the Pentagon and State Department, offering their ideas for getting rid of Hussein.

The head of the Iraqi National Congress, Ahmed Chalabi, is among the leaders who will meet with U.S. officials, along with Kurdish groups. The INC describes itself as the umbrella group for the Iraqi opposition and has received millions of dollars in U.S. assistance.

But the INC has had strained relations with the State Department, dating from the Clinton administration. As a result, some of the oversight of the INC that had been under the State Department's purview is being transferred to the Pentagon.

The Bush administration proposed last May to allocate $8 million to the INC for humanitarian, communications and other activities for the June-September period, but U.S. officials have not received a response on how to spend the money from the INC. One goal of the Friday meetings is to clear up disagreements between State and the INC over the $8 million.

The United States has warned Iraq of unspecified consequences if it does not allow U.N. weapons inspections to resume. Iraqi diplomats have held three meetings with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan this year to discuss the issue and related topics.