Bush to Ask Sharon for Restraint if Iraq Attacks

U.S. President George W. Bush will ask Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for "maximum restraint" if Israel is attacked by Iraq in the event of an American assault on the Baghdad regime, but he won't ask Sharon for a commitment not to react under any circumstances, Israeli and American sources said yesterday.

In preparatory talks between Israeli and American officials on the eve of the premier's departure today for his seventh meeting with Bush at the White House, American officials made clear that the president will never say to the prime minister "don't respond under any circumstances."

While expressing understanding for Sharon's dilemma in case of an Iraqi missile attack, the president will press home the importance of Israeli restraint.

Bush and other top U.S. officials will show their Israeli counterparts a presentation on how the U.S. plans to deal with any Iraqi threat to Israel, including the possibility of Iraqi missiles being launched from the Western Desert at Israel - as they were in the 1991 Gulf War.

The administration reached the conclusion that only by presenting a comprehensive plan showing it took an Iraqi threat to Israel seriously, would Jerusalem be persuaded to show restraint if Iraq attacked Israel.

The administration also plans to promise that the U.S. will deter any Iraqi use of biological or chemical weapons, and will respond forcefully against any such use.

Israeli officials believe the planned American assault on Iraq will take up the majority of the agenda in the Bush-Sharon meeting tomorrow. The administration, they say, wants to clarify any "vague areas" and elucidate how it will act at every step in the Iraqi campaign to ensure that Israel can stay out of the conflict.

Washington does not want its tentative Arab support undermined by Israeli involvement.

Sharon has often repeated that Israel "knows how to defend itself" if attacked - thus leaving the option of retaliation open, but not making it the automatic response in case of an Iraqi attack.