Free Republic

US forces bombarded parts of southeast Baghdad overnight, while a truck bomb attack in western Iraq killed at least 40 people and wounded more than 60. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, meanwhile, added his voice to those of thousands of street protesters in denouncing US forces after they arrested the son of one of the country's top Shi'ite leaders. "American aircraft are bombarding terrorist targets that have been chosen by US and Iraqi forces, as part of our Baghdad security plan," said Brigadier General Qasim al-Mussawi, spokesman for the operation. But a resident of the area told AFP that insurgents had...

Assad says U.S. may attack Syrian President denies accusations Damascus played role in Hariri killing or Tel Aviv bombing By Reuters 'We are the key to the solution' Photo: Reuters ROME - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview published on Monday that he thought the United States might attack his country, but did not believe a strike was imminent. Assad told Italy's la Repubblica newspaper that Syria wanted stability in the region, and insisted it had no hand in the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri on Feb. 14 or in a suicide bombing in Tel...

ISTANBUL The Turkish prime minister said Wednesday that his government would ask Parliament later this month to allow American troops to use the country for an attack on Iraq, marking the first time the government had publicly declared its intentions to back American war plans. Prime Minister Abdullah Gul said that his government had all but given up on diplomatic efforts to disarm Iraq and had decided to join the United States in its plans to confront Baghdad by military means, according to a transcript of the meeting. "We believe that in line with our national interests, we should act...

Tehran, Nov 26, IRNA -- An informed source at the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs here Tuesday categorically rejected a recent CNN report that Tehran and Washington have agreed to cooperate in the event the US attacks Iraq. The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said no dialogue has taken place between the two countries to discuss any such future cooperation, much less an agreement on any cooperation in case Washington decides to launch a military strike on Baghdad. He conjectured that such reports are but part of the usual psychological warfare employed by the US to mislead world public...

Iraq may resort to banned armaments: Ex-diplomat warns dictator might draw Israel into conflict, igniting wider war that could be spun as defense of Arab nation Iraqi President Saddam Hussein will resort to weapons of mass destruction and attempt to spark an Arab-Israeli war by attacking Israel if the United States carries out a plan to topple the Iraqi regime, says Joe Wilson, former US acting ambassador to Baghdad and one of the last American officials to meet Iraq’s leader face to face. Instead of a risky military drive to remove Hussein’s regime, the focus should be on destroying Iraq’s...

TEHRAN, Oct 30 (AFP) - Iran must prepare itself to face a US attack, the Islamic republic's defence minister said Wednesday, accusing Washington of "seeking to reorganise the region". "We have to be prepared for the hypothesis of an American attack (against Iran), and reinforce our unity and avoid any divisive action," Rear-Admiral Ali Shamkhani told the student news agency ISNA. "The US government wants to reorganise the region and as a consequence Iran could constitute a target," he said. "If the Americans are in both Afghanistan and Iraq, this represents a significant challenge," he added. Only the previous day,...

Bagdad - In Iraq about 500 imams and islamic scholars from around the world called for a holy war against the US, if that country attacks Iraq. "It is the duty of every muslim to scorch the earth under the feet of the US", according the fatwa. This fatwa comes right after an emergency-meeting of the Iraqi parlaiment. This meeting is to be held to the decision of the US Congress to give president Bush full authority to attack Iraq. The Security Council will hold a public debate about Iraq on Wednesday. Baghdad yesterday renewed it's promise to let inspectors...

TEHRAN, Oct 6 (AFP) - President Mohammad Khatami warned Sunday that a unilateral US attack on Iraq posed a greater threat to the Middle East than the Baghdad regime against which Tehran fought a 1980-1988 war. The most serious danger is the great powers' unilateral steps based on the use of force to change the face of the region and the destiny of a country through military intervention," he said, quoted by state radio. Khatami was discussing the US push to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, with the secretary general of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, Abdul Wahed Belqeziz....

Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji says an attack on Iraq without a United Nations mandate will lead to 'severe consequences.' The Prime Minister also said there had to be hard evidence that Iraq is producing weapons of mass destruction. The Chinese Prime Minister's comments were made shortly after British Prime Minister Tony Blair revealed a secret dossier which states that Iraq can launch an offensive using chemical or biological weapons within 45 minutes. The dossier has brought mixed reactions; some experts say it reveals nothing new, while others see it as overwhelming evidence that Iraq is producing chemical and biological...

As U.N. weapons inspectors disclosed plans to go to Iraq next month, President Saddam Hussein appealed to the United Nations ( news - web sites) to stop the Bush administration from attacking his country. In a letter read by his foreign minister to the 190-member U.N. General Assembly on Thursday, Saddam attempted to counter U.S. war plans and denied he had any banned weapons. "I hereby declare before you that Iraq is clear of all nuclear, chemical and biological weapons," he said in the message read by Naji Sabri only days after Baghdad agreed to readmit the arms inspectors without...

BAGHDAD, August 14 (IslamOnline) - Iraq is organizing its troops to face an expected American aggression, as U.S. President Georges W. Bush seems determined to launch an attack in the name of regime change. Thousands of women from different organizations are among those who volunteered to face the upcoming attack. To be able to deal with the enemy, women belonging to different partisan, popular and student groupings, joined training camps to learn different methods of fighting and how to use light weapons like guns, rifles, hand grenades, mines and bombers. Military experts are tainting female groups, or Karadis, according to...

Friday, July 19, 2002 Av 10, 5762 Israel Time: 23:04 (GMT+3) French sources: U.S. to attack Iraq `soon' By Amir Oren The U.S. operation to topple Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein will take place in the coming months, even before November's Congressional elections, according to high-level sources in the French government following talks with American decision-makers and professionals in Washington. The French assessment is based, in part, on what National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice told new French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin this month. Rice emphasized U.S. President George W. Bush's determination to topple Saddam "soon," according to the French sources....

NEW YORK: The Bush administration is plotting a potential major air campaign and ground invasion early next year to topple the Iraqi government of President Saddam Hussein, the New York Times reported in Sunday editions. The use of 70,000 to 250,000 troops is being considered, the Times said. President George W Bush has not issued any order for the Pentagon to mobilize its forces, and there is no official plan for an invasion, the newspaper said. For years, official US policy has been to work for a "regime change" in Iraq. Since the Sept. 11 strikes, which exposed America's vulnerability...