Straw: Attack threat is necessary

Straw said the threat of attack was necessary

LONDON, England -- UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw says the threat of military action is the only way to get Saddam Hussein to accept weapons inspectors.

Straw, who is due to deliver a speech to the United Nations on Saturday, said the "dismal truth" about the Iraqi regime was that it would refuse to respond to international pressure unless it knew it risked being attacked.

Earlier Straw said "the only way" to get weapons inspectors back into Iraq was by "the complete and united resolve of the U.N., led by the Security Council."

This should be accompanied by "clarity that if the weapons inspectors are not allowed back, then the will of the U.N. has to be enforced by other means which inevitably would mean military action," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

CNN NewsPass Video    •  Bush makes Iraq case to Congress    •  Iraqi minister scolds U.S. at U.N.   MORE STORIES   •  General: U.S. ready to attack Iraq   •  Iraq: No new U.N. resolutions   •  Bush outlines first-strike doctrine  EXTRA INFORMATION   •  Profile: Hans Blix   •  Gallery: Reactions to Bush's speech on Iraq   •  Timeline: White House states case for Saddam violations   •  Interactive: Chemical weapons   •  Timeline: U.N. weapons inspections in Iraq   •  Map: Area controlled by Kurds   •  Interactive Map: World stances on Iraq  RESOURCES   •  On the Scene: Rula Amin: Iraqi people relieved   •  Text of Iraq letter to U.N.   •  U.N. resolutions on Iraq   •  U.N. Security Council   •  Transcript: Bush address to U.N. General Assembly   •  In-Depth: The Unfinished War

British Ministry of Defence officials have confirmed that the British Army is to launch a major logistics exercise, but denied it was a preparation for military action against Iraq.

Operation Log Viper is being launched to test the capabilities of the 101 Logistics Brigade based at Aldershot, Hampshire.

Troops will move all forms of vital supplies from clothing and petrol to ammunition and medical supplies to RAF Woodbridge in Suffolk and the military port at Marchwood near Southampton.

An MoD spokesman told the UK Press Association: "This is an exercise that has long been planned to test our logistics capabilities."

Asked if it would be fortunate to have the supplies in place should action be launched on Iraq, the spokesman added: "That is speculation. There are no plans on that front and this exercise will stop on October 12 when the troops will return to their base."

The last major exercise by the Armed Forces, Saif Sareea II in Oman last year, ended with servicemen and women staying behind to join the war against terrorism in Afghanistan.

In a meeting with African leaders in New York on Friday, U.S. President George W. Bush reiterated his request for a U.N. resolution, demanding that Saddam disarm his weapons programmes.

"I am highly doubtful that he will meet our demands. I hope he does, but I'm highly doubtful," Bush said.

"The reason I'm doubtful is he's had 11 years to meet the demands. For 11 long years, he has basically told the United Nations and the world he doesn't care."

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell was meeting all 14 other members of the U.N. Security Council to begin the process of agreeing an ultimatum for Iraq.

President Bush, outlining his request for a U.N.-imposed deadline on Saddam, said he was "talking days and weeks, not months and years", adding: "That's essential for the safety of the world." (Full story)