President Clinton's senior national security advisers edged closer Saturday to recommending a military strike against Iraq unless President Saddam Hussein somehow reverses his interference with U.N. weapons inspectors, well-placed U.S. officials said.
The 90-minute meeting at the White House was attended by Secretary of State Madeline Albright, Defense Secretary William Cohen, U.N. Ambassador Bill Richardson and Sandy Berger, the president's national security adviser.In Baghdad, Iraqi newspapers warned the populace Saturday that Clinton might be planning to attack to divert attention from his sex scandal. A statement from the Iraqi Cabinet said the government was discussing providing civilian weapons-training to help Iraqis "face the latest American plotting against Iraq."