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World Leaders Cautious on Iraq
Friday, September 6, 2002
(21.41PM BST)
itv.com

"I'd rather do it right than do it quickly. I think it is important for us to be very deliberative, very cautious, very prudent," Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle said. "Pre-emptive strikes are not something we do. And for us to depart from that practice and take this action requires I think very careful deliberation and that's what we're going to give it."

Just a day ahead of his meeting with Tony Blair, US President George W Bush has been phoning the leaders of France, Russia and China to drum up support for his campaign against Iraq -- but he was met with a mixture of caution and skepticism.

Mr. Bush called French President Jacques Chirac, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Jiang Zemin, who all questioned any pre-emptive military strike on Iraq.

Mr. Putin expressed deep reservations about using military force against Iraq, and Mr. Chirac said the UN Security Council should decide what action to take if Baghdad rejected the return of weapons inspectors.

The White House said it would dispatch envoys to Paris, Moscow and Beijing after Mr. Bush's address to the UN on September 12.
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Dan