HIGHLIGHTS: Speech Aimed Not Just at Americans But Critics of White House Stance on Iraq||Bush Tells Congress Approving Using Force against Iraq Doesn't Mean Military Action 'Imminent' or 'Unavoidable'||Senator Criticizes Bush Administration for Sending Message through Words & Deeds That Countries Other than U.S. Do Not Matter||British Foreign Minister Says London May Now Be Prepared to Accept Proposed Two-Phase French U.N. Draft Resolution on Iraq||Saddam Reaffirms Determination to Remain at the Helm & Defend Iraq's Independence|| STORY: U.S. President George W. Bush on Monday said the threat posed by Iraq's weapons program "only grows worse with time" and he warned Iraqi generals not to follow any "cruel and desperate" orders from Iraqi President Saddam Hussein or risk being tried as war criminals.

Bush sternly warned Iraqi officers, saying: "An Iraqi regime faced with its own demise may attempt cruel and desperate measures. If Saddam Hussein orders such measures, his generals would be well advised to refuse those orders.

"If they do not refuse, they must understand that all war criminals will be pursued and punished," he added.

Bush ordered Iraq to disarm immediately or face attack as France and Britain edged closer to agreement over the UN's message to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

In a speech, the US leader accused Saddam of harboring terrorists and the "instruments of mass death and destruction," and warned that if not confronted now, the menace posed to the United States and its allies could become even more lethal.

"The time for denying, deceiving and delaying has come to an end. Saddam Hussein must disarm himself -- or, for the sake of peace, we will lead a coalition to disarm him," Bush said.

And he warned it was still not clear just how far Saddam was from developing and deploying nuclear weapons, in a speech seemingly aimed at not just Americans, but critics of his stance on Iraq abroad.

"America must not ignore the threat gathering against us. Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof -- the smoking gun -- that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud."

Bush also called on the US Congress -- which is expected to authorize him to use force against Iraq later this week -- to unite and strengthen Washington's hand in efforts to pressure the United Nations to act.

"Approving this resolution does not mean that military action is imminent or unavoidable," Bush said.

"The resolution will tell the United Nations and all nations, that America speaks with one voice and is determined to make the demands of the civilized world mean something."

In Washington, a co-sponsor of the resolution slammed what he called the administration's tendency to go it alone in foreign policy.

"The problem is that in both word and deed this administration frequently sends the message that others don't matter," Senator John Edwards said in a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"Unilateral action will not win the war against terrorism. It will not stop the spread of weapons of mass destruction."

Edwards, a Democrat from North Carolina who does not hide his presidential ambitions, criticized Bush for disregarding the coalition-building efforts of past presidents in his haste to take on Saddam.

"The administration was wrong not to build an international consensus from the beginning," Edwards said.

Earlier, Bush continued to lobby world leaders, agreeing to continued consultations on Iraq in a birthday phone call to Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose government opposes a US-British proposal for tough UN action.

Meanwhile, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said after talks in Paris with French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin that London might be prepared to accept a French proposal for a two-stage ultimatum to Iraq, rather than the single UN resolution favored by the United States.

Straw was in Paris to press the case for a single resolution mandating the return of weapons inspectors backed up by the threat of force if Iraq blocks their activities.

France has been urging a two-step process, with a first resolution detailing the inspectors' mission and a second threatening military action only if their work is interrupted.

Officials on both sides said there was room for accommodation between the two approaches.

"We have always said that we would prefer one resolution, but we have never ruled out two resolutions and we don't," Straw said.

"I do not see any problem that we cannot get around," added de Villepin.

"We have done the work that should mean the rapid departure of weapons inspectors. The message has to be as clear as possible to Iraq, so it does not think there are divisions inside the Security Council."

The two ministers' statements were welcomed in Washington.

"There is a convergence of concepts involved in this resolution. There is an understanding that Iraq is in violation," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.

"There is an understanding that the Security Council needs to take hold of this issue and specify what the rules are for inspecting and for Iraq's general compliance with UN resolutions, and that there need to be consequences (for non-compliance)."

Iraq has agreed to the return of weapons inspectors, but is waiting until the United Nations sets out the terms of their mandate. Britain and the United States say a 1998 arrangement under which inspectors needed permission to enter presidential palaces and other sensitive sites needs to be removed.

While the five veto-wielding permanent members of the Security Council are unable to reach agreement over how to deal with Iraq, UN chief arms inspector Hans Blix has been forced to delay the return of disarmament inspectors.

Saddam himself meanwhile pledged never to abandon his country and the defense of its independence.

He said in a meeting with Defense Minister Sultan Hashem Ahmad that it was impossible for him to "renounce the mission of defending the independence of Iraq and leave it a prey to foreign powers.

"We have accepted (this mission) with joy, and it is impossible to renounce it and allow the outside world to govern us."

PHOTO CAPTION

President George W. Bush addresses the nation on Iraq from the Cincinnati Museum Center in Ohio on October 7. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque