FOREIGN POLICY:
Bush links Iraq with al-Qaida, calls for better intelligence

Posted: 10:45 p.m., Tuesday

By JOHN YAUKEY
Gannett News Service

WASHINGTON — President Bush, in his globally anticipated State of the Union speech Tuesday, made the case for possible war with Iraq by accusing leader Saddam Hussein of colluding with al-Qaida terrorists while illegally pursuing weapons of mass destruction.

''It is up to Iraq to show exactly where it is hiding its banned weapons, lay those weapons out for the world to see, and destroy them,'' Bush said. ''Nothing like this has happened.''

He added, ''Evidence from intelligence sources, secret communications and statements by people now in custody, reveal Saddam Hussein aids and protects terrorists, including members of al-Qaida. Secretly, and without fingerprints, he could provide one of his hidden weapons to terrorists, or help them develop their own.''

Bush said he will ask the United Nations Security Council to convene Feb. 5 to consider ''Iraq's ongoing defiance of the world,'' and he will dispatch Secretary of State Colin Powell there to present intelligence about Iraq's weapons programs.

Looking to bolster future security, the president called for the creation of an intelligence center to analyze all terrorism information and a $6 billion effort to make vaccines for bio-warfare agents such as anthrax. The nation's intelligence agencies - especially the CIA and FBI - were lambasted for missing important clues leading up to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

In broad brushstrokes, the president began to reveal some of the intelligence that administration officials have said indicates Saddam is refusing to disarm. Bush accused Saddam of failing to account for vast quantities of banned weapons, sanitizing sites in Iraq now being scoured by U.N. weapons inspectors and intimidating witnesses inspectors want to interview.

''The dictator of Iraq is not disarming - to the contrary, he is deceiving,'' Bush said. ''From intelligence sources, we know, for instance, that thousands of Iraqi security personnel are at work hiding documents and materials.''

Despite his aggressive rhetoric, the president voiced hope that Saddam can be disarmed peacefully. But he cautioned, ''sometimes peace must be defended.''

Tuesday's speech came amid a series of important events in the building tensions with Iraq.

On Monday, U.N. weapons inspectors told the Security Council that Saddam is not fully complying with orders to disarm. The Security Council is scheduled to begin deliberations on that report on Wednesday. On Thursday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee begins hearings on the status of weapons inspections. On Friday, Bush meets with his closest ally against Iraq, British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

As the Bush administration makes its case against Saddam, it must convince a skeptical audience, especially abroad, that the dictator is an imminent threat. United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan said weapons inspectors ''need time to get their work done, and I suspect the (Security) Council will allow for that time.''