Powell: Bush sends Iraq a 'chilling message'

Powell tells Larry King that Bush retains "all of his options" if the inspections do not resume.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Iraqi President Saddam Hussein should take President Bush's demand Monday that Iraq allow international weapons inspections to resume as a "very sober, chilling message," Secretary of State Colin Powell said.

During a Rose Garden appearance, Bush said Hussein "needs to let inspectors back in his country to show us that he is not developing weapons of mass destruction."

Asked what would happen if the Iraqi leader did not, Bush said, "He'll find out."

International weapons inspectors went into Iraq after the Gulf War to check for evidence of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons. They left ahead of U.S.-British airstrikes in December 1998 and Hussein has not allowed them to return.

Powell, who as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff helped lead the military campaign against Hussein a decade ago, said the Iraqi leader "should see it as a very sober, chilling message."

"There are many, many options available to the international community and to the president," Powell said on CNN's "Larry King Live" Monday.

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Asked for specifics on what Bush meant, Powell said, "The president didn't say what it meant today, so I'm not going to prejudge what it might mean."

White House press secretary Ari Fleischer later disputed suggestions Bush was elevating the possibility that Iraq could be the next target of U.S. military action in the war on terrorism. He said Bush's comments on Iraq were "nothing new."

The president's comments did serve to highlight a debate within the administration over what to do about Iraq.

Hawks such as Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, nicknamed the "bombers," advocate strikes on Iraq.

Powell is seen as the leader of a faction that urges restraint, fearing any attack on Iraq would weaken the international coalition against terrorism.

In his interview with CNN, however, Powell called the Iraqi regime "an evil one" and said Bush retains "all of his options" if the inspections do not resume.

"The inspectors are not there to do anything harmful to the Iraqi people," Powell said.

"The inspectors are going back in for one single purpose, and that is to make sure that Iraq is complying with the agreements it made at the end of the Gulf War to give up all weapons of mass destruction activity.

"The only way we can be sure of that is if the inspectors go back in [and] are allowed to do their work," he said.

"The president has all of his options, and he will look at all of those countries that continue to provide safe havens and harbors for terrorists."