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Members of UNSCOM's inspection team evacuate Iraq

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• Clinton: 'We must be prepared to act'
• Baghdad prepares for strikes
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NEW YORK (CNN) -- The United Nations Security Council held a special meeting Wednesday, after the chief U.N. weapons inspector suddenly pulled his entire inspection team out of Iraq.

Russia, which along with China opposes military action, called the meeting to question chief inspector Richard Butler about the withdrawal. "It is a precautionary move only," Butler said, "and I sincerely hope it is temporary."

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Butler said he made the decision after receiving what he called "some recommendations" from the United States. He cited safety concerns amid an "increasingly hostile" atmosphere in Iraq as the U.S. prepares for possible airstrikes. Butler said 103 inspectors arrived by plane in Bahrain Wednesday night.

A U.N. spokesman said the bulk of the Security Council's 15 members supported Butler's unilateral move. But Russia and China were clearly angry at not being told ahead of time.

Emerging from the meeting, Russian Ambassador to the U.N. Sergey Lavrov reiterated his country's opposition to a military strike. "The use of force is fraught with very serious consequences, not only for the U.N. ability to continue to monitor inside Iraq but also for the stability in the region and for the Middle East in general."

Moscow has been in contact with Baghdad trying to get the Iraqis to resume cooperation and resolve the situation peacefully, which he stressed was the only real solution.

The U.N. Security Council is divided over the use of force against Iraq

U.N. Secretary-General announced he was cutting short a trip to Africa to return to New York. Annan issued a statement urging Saddam Hussein to resume cooperation with weapons inspectors.

Clinton: 'We must be prepared to act'

Despite the dissent in the Security Council, the United States is beefing up its military presence in the region even more.

Wednesday, the Pentagon ordered 129 more fighter planes, including stealth fighters and B-52s to the Gulf, along with more than 3,000 additional ground troops.

Clinton

Sources said the attack plans mirror those drawn up by the United States back in March: several days of intense bombing, with the heaviest bombardment in the first 40 hours, against targets linked to Baghdad's chemical and biological weapons programs.

U.S. officials said there were mounting indications that Iraq would not back down and said President Clinton could give the airstrike order at any time.

Speaking at Veterans Day ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, Clinton said the United States can still hope and pray Saddam Hussein will comply. "But we must be prepared to act if he does not," he said. He met again Wednesday with his top National Security advisers at the White House.

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U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said the purpose of a strike "would be to significantly degrade (Saddam's) ability to reconstitute his weapons of mass destruction, and to make sure he cannot threaten his neighbors."

In an interview with PBS' Charlie Rose, Albright also said the United States does not need a new U.N. resolution to use force. "We believe that we have authority to use force already," Albright said. "And that is something we have said over the years, and most recently the Security Council has again restated that if he does not comply there would be the severest consequences," she said

Baghdad prepares for strikes

In Baghdad, Saddam met with his Cabinet Wednesday to discuss precautionary measures against "expected Zionist and American aggression."

Iraq is still refusing to cooperate with weapons inspectors until the Security Council begins to lift the debilitating economic sanctions imposed since the Gulf War.

Hussein

Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz accused the inspectors of acting on orders from the United States and using the U.N. merely as a "false cover."

Some in Iraq are worried that Butler's pullout will affect the U.N.'s key roles: monitoring food and medicine distribution. U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator Hans von Sponeck said "there will be a slowdown," but he said the U.N. would try to make the best of it.

Many Iraqis were hoping that Annan would return to Baghdad and broker a deal as he did in the last crisis. Diplomats say the Iraqi government asked him to intervene, but neither Washington nor Baghdad was willing to compromise enough to give him anything to work with.

As for the threat of bombs falling, many Iraqis are taking things in stride, ignoring the latest news. After all, they've been through this before.

Correspondents Wolf Blitzer, Jamie McIntyre, Jane Arraf and The Associated Press contributed to this report.