WASHINGTON – National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice yesterday urged the United Nations to get tough with Baghdad – saying “appeasement” is no more likely to work with Saddam Hussein than it did with Adolf Hitler. Her comments came as NATO handed the United States a welcome bit of good news – agreeing to provide military aid to Turkey in case of war, despite an earlier effort to veto the assistance.
Turkey is critical to any U.S. invasion of Iraq, with thousands of American soldiers set to deploy from its bases along the Iraqi border. European resistance to Washington’s military plans had stalled the assistance.
Rice, appearing on several political chat shows, compared the British appeasement of Germany before World War II with the current standoff with Iraq.
“Any time you have a situation where you are calling for more time, rather than calling immediately for Iraq to comply, it plays into the hands of Saddam Hussein,” said Rice, who appeared on several political chat shows yesterday.
“Tyrants respond to toughness. That was true in the 1930s and 1940s, when we failed to respond to tyranny, and it is true today.
“The world needs to pull itself back together here and to send a very strong message to the Iraqis,” added Rice, speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
But Rice directed most of her fire at the U.N., where efforts by President Bush to build support for a coalition to disarm Saddam have stalled.
But she did say that Americans should not heed calls to boycott French products. France and Germany have been vocal in their opposition to projected U.S. military action.
Rice said that the time for Saddam to show he’s serious about complying with U.N. disarmament mandates is “weeks, not months” and hinted that the United States may not wait for another U.N. resolution before taking action.
On “Fox News Sunday,” she said the administration might seek a new resolution – and urged the United Nations to stand up to Saddam.
“He’s played this game before. He will continue to try to deceive, and he will continue to try to split the [Security] Council,” Rice said.
Rice indicated she opposed the French proposal to give Iraq 30 more days to demonstrate cooperation – saying it would merely “relieve pressure” on Baghdad.