Action on Iraq to be “clearly articulated”

IF US President George W. Bush ordered military action against Iraq, he would explain clearly to Americans his decision to try to remove Saddam Hussein from power, a White House aide said yesterday.

“President Bush also understands if we go forward, if he decides that we need to take action to minimise the threat that he now poses, that he will do so in a way that will clearly be articulated to the American people, clearly articulated our friends and allies,” the president’s communications director, Dan Bartlett, said.

“And you’ll find, because of the abysmal record of Saddam Hussein and the threat that he causes in the region, and to us as well, that we will have support,” Mr Bartlett said.