Rumsfeld: Focus is on Hussein

The Dallas Morning News ^ | September 23, 2002 | By RICHARD WHITTLE / The Dallas Morning News

[MeekOneGOP]

Rumsfeld: Focus is on Hussein

09/23/2002

By RICHARD WHITTLE / The Dallas Morning News

WARSAW, Poland - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld confirmed Sunday that any U.S.-led military attack on Iraq would target its leaders and the sources of their power while trying to avoid civilians.

"Obviously, you don't want to harm the people of that country," Mr. Rumsfeld told reporters en route to Warsaw for a meeting with his NATO counterparts. "We favor the people of that country."

Mr. Rumsfeld declined to discuss what specific war plans might exist, and he emphasized that President Bush has made no decision to launch military strikes to enforce a U.N. ban on Iraqi possession of nuclear, biological or chemical weapons.

The secretary also denounced other officials quoted anonymously in news reports outlining war plans said to have been prepared for Mr. Bush. "It's unhelpful and dangerous to the lives of American men and women in uniform."

Mr. Rumsfeld flew to the Polish capital for three days of meetings including one session with NATO defense ministers and another between NATO ministers and Russian officials.

Mr. Rumsfeld is to present the NATO ministers with a new U.S. proposal for NATO to form a "rapid response force" able to react quickly to conflicts outside members' territories. The force would have about 20,000 troops provided by all 19 alliance members, said a senior Pentagon official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Iraq is expected to be the hottest topic discussed during Mr. Rumsfeld's Warsaw visit. He said he would brief his NATO peers on the threat posed by the "nexus" between terrorists and terrorist states seeking weapons of mass destruction, especially Iraq.

E-mail rwhittle@dallasnews.com

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Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews/stories/092302dnintrumfsfeld.803.html

[MeekOneGOP]

Of course the Iraqi civilians won't be targeted. But make no mistake. I would bet that SADdam would use his WMD to kill his own people and then claim the U.S. did it. It's his style, imho......

[Byron_the_Aussie]

..Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld confirmed Sunday that any U.S.-led military attack on Iraq would target its leaders and the sources of their power while trying to avoid civilians....

Right. Well that rules out a ground invasion, and the resulting 'collateral damage.' Let's hope and pray the Secretary has finally arrived at the best solution for resolving this successfully, and with honour; a targeted simultaneous missile strike, against Saddam and Uday. Much in the manner of the way IDF takes out Hamas terrorist leaders, or the Russians took out the Chechen warlords by homing in on their cellphone transmissions.