CRAWFORD / BAGHDAD, Jan 1: US President George Bush warned a world partying into the new year that Iraq had the power to unleash economic chaos if given the chance to mount an attack on the United States.

His gloomy message was echoed by his ally Britain, with Prime Minister Tony Blair saying in a message: “I cannot recall such a time when Britain was confronted simultaneously by such a range of difficult and in some cases dangerous problems.”

He said there was a “prospect of committing UK troops to action if (Iraqi President) Saddam Hussein continues to flout international law and fails to properly disarm”.

In Baghdad, there was no new year respite for the United Nations weapons inspectors, who visited more suspect sites on Wednesday, a public holiday in Iraq.

U.N. sources said experts were preparing also to launch their first aerial inspections by helicopters and were setting up a base to facilitate inspections in northern Iraq.

Bush said on Tuesday he hoped to resolve the standoff peacefully, but made a pitch to win support for possible war to force Iraq to come clean over any weapons of mass destruction.

Asked by reporters about the potential cost of a war, Bush said: “An attack from (Iraqi President) Saddam Hussein or a surrogate of Saddam Hussein would cripple our economy.

“Our economy is strong, it’s resilient, we’ve got to continue to make it strong and resilient. This economy cannot afford to stand an attack.” His warning seemed designed to persuade Americans and a world heavily locked into the fortunes of the US economy that his hardline stance on Iraq was in their interests.—Reuters