President Bush on Monday gave Iraqi President Saddam Hussein 48 hours to flee his country with his sons or face the full might of the U.S. war machine and told Iraqi soldiers they could save their lives by laying down their arms. In a 13-minute address to the American people signaling an end to months of diplomacy and a prelude to war, a sober Bush said: "All the decades of deceit and cruelty have now reached an end. Saddam Hussein and his sons must leave Iraq within 48 hours.

Their failure to do so will result in military conflict, commenced at a time of our choosing."

That time is likely to come on Wednesday or Thursday, once United Nations personnel and other foreigners have had time to leave the war zone.

Bush spoke as much to the Iraqi people as to his U.S. audience. He urged Iraqi soldiers not to sacrifice their lives for a "dying regime" and warned them not to set oil fields on fire or use chemical or biological weapons against U.S. troops or anyone else.

He promised food and medicine for the Iraqi people and a speedy liberation, which would bring an end to torture and repression. Rejecting arguments that he lacked legal authority, Bush invoked his full authority to attack Iraq without the specific approval of the United Nations Security Council.

"The United States of America has the sovereign authority to use force in assuring its own national security. That duty falls to me as commander of chief by the oath I have sworn -- by the oath I will keep," he said.

The speech came at end of a day in which Bush accepted he could not win a Security Council majority for a war, which is overwhelmingly unpopular around the world. Even natural allies like Chile and Mexico refused to back Washington.

In Baghdad, several nations closed their embassies, some foreign journalists were also leaving and Russia told its nationals to get out. The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was leaving 10 international staff in Iraq.

Australia, whose Prime Minister John Howard is a firm supporter of the U.S. stance, said it had given all Iraqi embassy staff five days to leave the country. It also pledged to commit troops to any U.S.-led war.

SADDAM DEFIANT

Hours before Bush spoke, Iraq's Foreign Minister Naji Sabri, quickly dismissed the notion of Saddam leaving. "The only option (to secure peace) is the departure of the warmonger number one in the world, the failing President Bush who made his country a joke," he said.

Oil prices fell, the dollar was firm and Asian stock markets galloped higher following Bush's speech. Crude oil futures fell nearly a dollar a barrel in after-hours electronic trade, while gold was up around two dollars an ounce, as investors bet that a swift and decisive U.S.-led military strike on Iraq would start within days.

The United States and Britain have 280,000 troops poised to attack and are expected to quickly overwhelm Iraqi defenses.

But they could still face severe challenges if the Iraqis use chemical weapons or decide to defend Baghdad street by street.

Bush also put the homeland defenses of the United States on the second-highest level of security alert, with additional security at air and seaports and other critical facilities.

SCRAMBLING TO LEAVE

U.N. weapons inspectors and other foreigners scrambled to evacuate Baghdad, ahead of an expected massive U.S. aerial bombardment, which will be followed by a ground invasion to kill or capture Saddam and dismantle his government.

TURKEY POISED TO GRANT US MILITARY FACILITIES

Turkey's cabinet, after days of delay, said it would discuss on Tuesday a resolution allowing U.S. forces to use its territory to launch a northern front against Iraq and could put it to parliament on Wednesday. The parliament previously rejected the plan but with war now virtually inevitable, Turkey may want to join the U.S.-led coalition before it is too late.

PHOTO CAPTION

President George W. Bush addresses the nation from the White House, March 17, 2003. Bush says Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his sons must leave Iraq within 48 hours or face war (Reuters TV)