WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney delivered the Bush administration's most comprehensive case for war against Iraq yesterday, warning that the world faces grave danger if it stands by while Saddam Hussein develops nuclear weapons.
"The risk of inaction is greater than the risk of action," Cheney said in a speech in Nashville, Tenn. He cautioned against "wishful thinking or willful blindness" about the threat posed by the Iraqi dictator.
Cheney's address to a convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars was an effort to counter a flurry of criticism - from leading Republicans as well as Democrats - that the administration has not made a compelling case for a pre-emptive strike against Iraq.
Administration spokesmen have said repeatedly that President Bush has not decided whether to launch military action to oust Hussein. Bush said last week that he would be deliberate in his decision. And despite the urgency of his tone, Cheney gave no hint yesterday that military action is imminent.
Yet even as he stressed that Bush would "consider all possible options," the vice president offered a forceful and detailed justification for waging war.
Countering objections that a military strike could destabilize the region, Cheney said the removal of Hussein would bolster the war against terrorism, strengthen moderate Arab states and improve the chances of peace in the Middle East.
Many of the points Cheney made have been articulated by others. But his speech tied together all of the arguments and presented the administration's broadest case so far for war against Iraq.
"There is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction," Cheney said. "There is no doubt he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our allies and against us."
Even as Bush and Cheney have been raising the prospect of war to oust Hussein, many on Capitol Hill have demanded that the Bush administration seek Congress' approval for any such action.
Administration lawyers say that congressional authorization is not legally required, though others say it would be politically necessary.
In his speech, Cheney said Bush had instructed his national security team to cooperate in congressional hearings starting next month. And Bush's spokesman, Ari Fleischer, said yesterday that the president "will make the decision about a congressional vote on more than legal factors alone."
