In a speech last night in Cincinnati, U.S. President George W. Bush again sought public support for possible military action against Iraq over its alleged pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and its refusal to allow U.N. weapons inspectors back into the country.  Bush acknowledged the United States does not know how close Iraq is to acquiring a nuclear weapon but stressed the dangers of Baghdad's other weapons of mass destruction and the need to contain any nuclear program before it is too late.

"We cannot wait for the final proof -- the smoking gun -- that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud," the president said.

Seeking to answer doubts about why action should be taken now, Bush said Iraq "gathers the most serious dangers of our age in one place" and called the risk posed by Iraq "already significant" and growing "worse with time."  President Saddam Hussein is a "murderous tyrant" characterized by "unrelenting hostility" toward the United States, and Iraq is "reconstituting its nuclear weapons programs," Bush said.  He added that the risk "is simply too great that he [Hussein] will use (weapons of mass destruction) or provide them to a terror network."

As evidence of the latter possibility, Bush alleged a link between Iraq and the al-Qaeda terrorist network, saying Hussein and al-Qaeda "share a common enemy," the United States; that al-Qaeda leaders fled to Iraq from Afghanistan last year following the U.S.-led unseating of the al-Qaeda-allied Taliban; and that "one very senior al-Qaeda leader" has received medical treatment in Baghdad.

Bush invoked Iraq's "massive stockpile of biological weapons," which he said "has never been accounted for and is capable of killing millions."  As evidence the country is pursuing a nuclear weapon as well, he cited U.N. reports indicating that the incomplete al-Furat manufacturing facility near Baghdad, which was dismantled by inspectors after the 1991 Gulf War, was being built to assemble a centrifuge cascade of the type needed to make weapons-grade uranium.  The White House yesterday released satellite photographs of the site that purportedly show it is again operational, and U.S. officials have said they have detected a large-scale Iraqi bid to illegally import at least 60,000 aluminum tubes that could be used for centrifuges.

The president appealed to Iraqi military leaders to disobey any order to use weapons of mass destruction, warning that they will be pursued as war criminals if they use such weapons.

Reviewing Iraq's alleged violations of U.N. Security Council resolutions passed after the Gulf War, Bush said, "The time for denying, deceiving and delaying has come to an end.  Saddam Hussein must disarm himself or, for the sake of peace, we will lead a coalition to disarm him."

The U.S. Congress is considering a resolution that would authorize force against Iraq if Bush deems diplomatic efforts to have reached an end.  Last night, Bush said the resolution "does not mean that military action is imminent or unavoidable."

Meanwhile at the United Nations, the Bush administration is pressing for a new Security Council resolution ordering Iraq to allow new inspections or face the consequences (Edwin Chen, Los Angeles Times, Oct. 8).

Russia, a veto-wielding permanent Security Council member that has opposed a new resolution on Iraq in favor of trying to resume inspections under existing resolutions, today seemed unmoved by Bush's speech, with Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov charging that the United States is deliberately seeking a war with Iraq and that the U.S. proposal for a new U.N. resolution includes conditions Washington knows Baghdad cannot fulfill (Deborah Seward, Associated Press/Yahoo! News, Oct. 8).

Fedotov signaled a change in the Russian position, though, by saying Russia is willing to accept a French proposal for a new resolution that would not include an automatic use of force in response to Iraqi noncompliance.

"If most members of the U.N. Security Council decide it is necessary to adopt a new resolution that bolsters" existing resolutions, Fedotov said, "then it must not include any unreasonable demands. ... Second, it must be based on all existing U.N. Security Council resolutions on Iraq.  And third, it must not include conditions that would lead to the automatic use of force."

"The work on a new resolution," he added, "should not impede the restart of the inspection process."

Earlier today, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said London, too, could accept the French plan.  Agence France-Presse reports that the Russian and British announcements mean the United Nations is closer to a compromise with Washington (Dmitry Zaks, AFP, Oct. 8).

China, another permanent council member, has opposed U.S. calls for military action.  A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman announced today that U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan is to arrive Sunday for a three-day visit during which he will meet with Chinese leaders on "the current international situation" (AFP, Oct. 8).  The spokeswoman added that China is in "close contact and consultation" with other Security Council countries but that "it is too early for us to comment on any draft resolution."  The crisis should be "solved in a political manner within the framework of the United Nations," she added, calling on Iraq to allow inspectors to return immediately (AFP II, Oct. 8).

The London Independent reports that British and U.S. defense planners have drawn up a timetable under which an air campaign over Iraq could begin by the end of next month and ground forces could enter the country early next year.  The newspaper reports that no official decision has been made on deployment.

Senior British and U.S. commanders, according to the Independent, believe Hussein's government would almost surely be overthrown just before or early on in a new war and that Iraqi use of biological and chemical weapons in combat would be less damaging than was feared earlier (Kim Sengupta, London Independent, Oct. 8).