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Analyst:
Bush Wants To Drop Mideast Crisis From His Agenda To Focus On Iraq
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| Iraq
is the first target of the second phase of “war against
terrorism”
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By Rashid Omar, IOL Correspondent
ISLAMABAD,
June 25 (IslamOnline)- Dr. Abdel Manan Kadeer, Public Opinion
consultant of IslamOnline said that U.S. President George Bush’s
speech, Monday 24 June, 2002, concerning the Middle East Crisis and
the conditions for establishing a Palestinian state insinuates that he
will drop the Mideast conflict from his agenda and direct his interest
towards striking Iraq.
Dr.
Kadeer said that Bush has always refused to deal with the Palestinian
issue directly since he started his presidency. He preferred to leave
it to the care of Secretary of State, Colin Powell, National Security
Adviser, Condoleezza Rice, and the rest of his administration. But he
was forced to deal with the issue after the September 11 attack and
the announcement of the U.S. campaign against the so-called terrorism.
“Bush
needed a political and media ground that gives him the excuse to enter
Islamic lands and airspace with his army,” explains Dr. Kadeer.
He
goes on saying that with the escalation of the Intifada on the
Palestinian occupied lands, it was very difficult for Bush to ask the
Arab and Islamic countries for their support to the U.S. campaign
“against terrorism” without showing any U.S. concern towards the
Palestinian issue.
Dr.
Abdel Manan Kadeer indicates that the first phase of the U.S. campaign
against terrorism has been accomplished according to the announcement
of the U.S. administration by removing the Taliban in Afghanistan and
establishing a new government for the country, in addition to the
heavy presence of U.S. forces in Asia, the Persian Gulf and Southeast
Asia.
The
U.S. administration announced that the second phase of the campaign
against terrorism has started and is now hinting at Iraqi’s nuclear
capabilities and his president, Saddam Hussein, which makes Iraq the
first target of the second phase whether the Arab countries conceded
or not.
To
pave the way for Bush to announce such an attack against Iraq, the
U.S. administration is preparing a media coverage that might take
months propagating against Iraq and its policy, talking about Bin
Laden and Al Qaeda and the fear of terrorism attacks against the U.S
as well as dimming the lights around the Palestinian issue and cooling
matters in Kashmir.
At
this point, the media arena, according to the U.S. administration,
will be ready. This can be noticed in his June 24 speech where he gave
a period of three years to all parties to do what he says during which
Bush and his administration will focus on Iraq.
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