Reaction on Iraq to be swift
Posted on 01/18/2003 3:36:18 AM PST by MeekOneGOP
Reaction on Iraq to be swift
In 2 weeks, U.S. expected to declare that Hussein not cooperating
01/18/2003
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration expects to declare in two weeks that Iraq is not cooperating with U.N. weapons inspectors, Secretary of State Colin Powell was quoted as saying Friday.
Mr. Powell's remarks seemed to indicate that President Bush is rejecting appeals by European allies and chief weapons inspector Hans Blix to give the inspections more time before considering military action against Iraq.
Dr. Blix is due to report to the U.N. Security Council on Jan. 27 about Iraq's compliance with a resolution demanding its disarmament of chemical, nuclear and biological weapons.
"We believe a persuasive case will be there at the end of the month that Iraq is not cooperating," Mr. Powell said in an interview with foreign journalists. A transcript of the interview, which took place Thursday, was released Friday.
A senior U.S. official said Mr. Powell's remarks were meant to signal that Washington wanted to quickly shift the international debate after Dr. Blix's report to what steps to take next, possibly including an invasion to topple Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
If Iraq is not complying, "we ought to be resolute enough to say so," said the senior official, who requested anonymity.
Mr. Powell's remarks do not signal that war is imminent. Diplomatic maneuvering could go on for weeks after Dr. Blix's report. And all the U.S. forces that would be necessary to invade Iraq won't be in place until mid- to late February.
Dr. Blix, who is due in Baghdad on Sunday, angered U.S. officials by suggesting this week that he could produce another report in late March, which would scramble Mr. Bush's diplomatic and military timetable for confronting Mr. Hussein.
French President Jacques Chirac, meeting with Dr. Blix in Paris, backed his request.
"Wisdom obliges us to respond to their request and give them the necessary time to be able to deliver serious conclusions which can convince the international community," Mr. Chirac said.
But the senior U.S. official said Washington wouldn't sign on to a "business as usual" inspection process that could drag on for months.
Although the Bush administration would prefer U.N. backing for any action against Iraq, it has reserved the right to act unilaterally, a point Mr. Powell repeated in the interview.
In Baghdad, a defiant Saddam Hussein warned Friday that he has mobilized Iraq's military to fight rather than cede to U.S. demands that he disarm his country or step down.
In a televised speech marking the 12th anniversary of his country's loss to U.S.-led forces in the 1991 Gulf War, Mr. Hussein likened U.S. forces to Mongol invaders who sacked Baghdad eight centuries ago.
And with more than 120,000 U.S. troops now poised within striking distance of Iraq, Mr. Hussein told his fellow Iraqis to "hold your swords and guns up high" in preparation for battle.
"Baghdad, its people and leadership, is determined to force the Mongols of our age to commit suicide at its gates," he said.
Meanwhile, the White House called the discovery of a dozen empty chemical warheads in an Iraqi bunker "troubling and serious," though initial evidence suggested at least 11 had never been loaded with killer agents.
U.S. officials said the warheads, discovered Thursday by U.N. inspectors, were a violation of a U.N. mandate that Iraq possess no chemical, biological or nuclear weapons or the means to deliver them.
But the find does not show the large-scale covert chemical and biological weapons production effort the United States accuses the government of Saddam Hussein of operating.
"The chemical warheads found by the inspectors were not - not - on the declared list of weapons that Iraq issued just one month ago," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said. "The fact that Iraq is in possession of undeclared chemical warheads, which the United Nations says are in excellent condition, is troubling and serious."
Dr. Blix said he wasn't certain whether Iraq had declared them but said they should be destroyed.
Iraq said it had declared the warheads in reports to the United Nations though they were not for chemical or biological weapons. Iraqi officials, who maintain the country has no prohibited weapons, said they were surprised at the furor created by the discovery.
Mr. Powell suggested that the United States would make public more evidence that Iraq is hiding banned weapons. However, he indicated it wouldn't be a so-called "smoking gun."
"I don't know of a secret weapon that we're suddenly pulling out of a vault or out of an office somewhere," he said.
U.S. officials have said they have evidence that Iraq has deceived the inspectors, but they say the evidence shows a pattern of misbehavior rather than a single dramatic revelation.
Mr. Bush's aides have debated how much of this information to release, as some officials are worried about exposing U.S. intelligence sources. A second senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said no final decision on public disclosures had been made.
Knight Ridder Newspapers, The Associated Press and Cox News Service contributed to this report.
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Two weeks after Jan 17 = Jan 31. The next day, Feb 1, is a new moon, which is the optimum time for a US attack
PRODUCTION DESIGNED TO DISTRACT YOU FROM THE FAILING ECONOMY
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THE SUCCESS OF THIS MILITARY ACTION HAS NOT YET BEEN RATED
Ping to #11, too.
...THE SUCCESS OF THIS MILITARY ACTION HAS NOT YET BEEN RATEDYep. But it won't take long !!
Thanks...
Isn't this what the French chicken$hits said when Hitler was about to kick their ass?
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