"There's really nothing to negotiate here," said White House press
secretary Joe Lockhart. "Saddam Hussein is alone responsible" for
any punitive action the U.S. might take to force him to dismantle
his weapons of mass destruction.

Lockhart also ruled out calling back Congress for a special session
on U.S. strikes against Iraq, as recommended by Sen. Arlen
Specter (R-Pa.).

He said President Clinton already had consulted privately with the
congressional leadership.

Clinton was still scheduled to leave for a 10-day Asian trip
tomorrow, and the U.S. traditionally has refrained from military
action with the commander-in-chief out of the country.

But Lockhart stressed that the
President was briefing allies by phone,
normally a prelude to attack.

As more U.S. warplanes and ships
sped to the region, Defense Secretary
William Cohen told sailors at the
Norfolk, Va., naval base that the
planned U.S. attacks "will be
significant should they be carried out."

"People are fed up with this," Cohen said, referring to several
previous U.S. military buildups and withdrawals in the Persian Gulf
as Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein defied and then complied with
United Nations arms inspections.

"Saddam Hussein has to realize that he cannot continue to play this
game," Cohen said.

In a Baghdad tirade against the U.S., UN arms inspectors and
Arab states in the region, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz
accused Washington of bully tactics that had left Saddam no room
for maneuver.

"We don't see any light at the end of the tunnel. There is a tunnel at
the end of the tunnel," Aziz told Western reporters at a news
conference.

Gesturing defiantly, his voice rising in anger, Aziz charged that
Clinton was blocking the completion of arms inspections needed
to lift eight years of punishing trade sanctions imposed on Iraq
after it invaded Kuwait.

"The road is being blocked continuously, stubbornly, illegally by
his government," Aziz said, after eight Arab states said Iraq has
only itself to blame if the U.S. attacks.

The criticism by Kuwait, Syria, Egypt, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, the
United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia was unusually strong for
Arab countries that repeatedly have called for a diplomatic
solution to the crisis.

Aziz urged UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to come to
Baghdad for talks that could halt a U.S. attack, as he did in
February. But a spokesman for Annan said the secretary general
had no immediate plans to travel.

The Iraqi deputy prime minister also lashed out at UNSCOM, the
United Nations Special Commission of arms inspectors, which
pulled out of Iraq this week to avoid being caught up in U.S. air
strikes. He said, "UNSCOM is a subsidiary organ of the CIA and
the Mossad [Israeli spy agency]."

UNSCOM chief Richard Butler rejected the charges, saying: "This
is wildly untrue." Butler said that whenever his inspectors caught
the Iraqis with chemical or biological weapons, "They said, 'Oops,
sorry, we lied.' "

Developments Yesterday in the Iraqi Crisis:

Defense Secretary William Cohen warned Iraq it was
risking 'significant' air strikes by blocking United Nations
arms inspections.

In a buildup of firepower in the gulf, 12 B-52 long-range
bombers left U.S. bases for the Pacific island Diego Garcia,
and 12 F-117 Stealth fighters were reported en route to the
region.

The U.S. welcomed a statement from eight Arab foreign
ministers who declared that Iraq would be 'held responsible
for any consequences' from its thwarting UN inspectors.

Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz accused President
Clinton of blocking the lifting of UN sanctions against his
country.

A second batch of 25 UN humanitarian workers left Iraq,
joining 233 UN inspectors and relief staffers who departed
Wednesday.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan cut short a North Africa
trip and returned to New York, saying he plans to meet
with the Security Council today but has no plans to fly to
Iraq to mediate.

The Israeli Army opened 24 gas mask distribution centers
in preparation for a possible attack by Iraq.

-- Richard Sisk - 11/13/98