WASHINGTON, Dec 18: President Bush is expected this week to declare Iraq in violation of a UN disarmament order, which will give Washington a legal justification for declaring the war, US officials said on Wednesday.

The military action against Saddam, however, cannot be taken before early next year, as the United States does not yet have enough forces in the Middle East to go to war.

Speculations about the US war strategy come amid reports that President Bush is expected to preside over a meeting of his top security advisers later in the day.

Reports in the American press suggest that the meeting would consider a formal US response to the 12,000-page weapons-declaration Saddam had sent to the UN earlier this month.

The declaration claims that Iraq does not have weapons of mass destruction and invites UN inspectors in Iraq to inspect any site they want.

The Bush administration, however, has rejected the declaration as inadequate and is now insisting on allowing UN inspectors to interview Iraqi scientists and officials.

Bush is expected to publicly make his case against the declaration on Friday, assuming he signs off on the recommendations, officials said.