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“The Iraqi people know well the evil intentions of the U.S against their country and they are totally ready to confront any U.S.-Zionist attack.”
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BAGHDAD,
Sept 8 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Iraq has said it is not
frightened by threats of military action, which U.S. President George W.
Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair expect to win broad
International support for once they have presented evidence Saddam
Hussein is developing weapons of mass destruction, news agencies
reported.
"U.S. threats do not scare the Iraqi people, they consolidate their
cohesion and determination to defend" their country, Vice President
Taha Yassin Ramadan said during a meeting late Saturday with Kurdish
officials loyal to Saddam's regime, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"The
Iraqi people know well the evil intentions of the United States against
their country and they are totally ready to confront any U.S.-Zionist
attack.
"The
U.S. terrorist designs against Iraq have been laid bare, which has
largely contributed to the positions taken against the U.S.
administration's policy, notably in Europe and elsewhere," Ramadan
said, adding that Iraq was ready to resume dialogue with the United
Nations.
Ramadan
made his comments before a meeting on Iraq Saturday between Bush and
Blair.
The
two leaders expect to win broad international support for any action
taken against Saddam and his alleged weapons of mass destruction, once
they have presented evidence, Blair insisted after the talks.
"People
should have confidence that we will approach this issue in a sensible
and measured way," the British prime minister said, reported AFP.
"We
did so in respect of Afghanistan; we did so earlier in respect of
Kosovo, and we will do so again; and ... we will do it on the basis of
the broadest possible international support.
"The
Iraqi regime has chemical, biological and nuclear potential. It's
important for us that we deal with it as swiftly as we possibly can
now," Blair stressed.
And
he expressed confidence that a dossier shortly to be released by the
United States and Britain "will show to people that ... there is an
issue to be dealt with" regarding Iraq's acquisition of weapons of
mass destruction.
In
addition, Blair pointed to a speech Bush is due to make to the United
Nations Thursday, in which he is expected to highlight evidence of
dangers posed by Iraq.
Blair
said Bush's speech "will be a successful statement ... because we
believe this is a problem for the whole of the international
community."
White
House spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters that Bush and Blair
"discussed the common threat to world peace coming from Saddam
Hussein and the importance of rallying the international community to
this threat."
Blair
charged that Saddam had been accumulating weapons of mass destruction
for a long time, taking advantage of the absence of UN weapons
inspectors since 1998.
Evidence
pointed to heightened activity at sites known to have been used in
Iraq's former nuclear program, he said.
"If
weapons monitoring doesn't take place, we are left with this threat
simply growing.
The threat is a real threat, not just to the region, but, because these
conflicts in a region such as the Gulf will not stay confined within
that region, they are a threat to the whole of the international
community, not just to America and Britain."
In
Washington meanwhile, unnamed U.S. officials told AFP that Iraq had
tried since the middle of last year to acquire from abroad thousands of
pieces of equipment that could be used only to produce enriched uranium,
which is needed to manufacture nuclear weapons.
The
officials gave no details, only saying that Baghdad was targeting
aluminum tubes that are used exclusively in centrifuges that produce
enriched uranium, a key component of any nuclear warhead.
On
Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell warned that the
U.S. must resort to preemptive use of force against its enemies only
"with a clear understanding" of its international obligations.
In
an interview with The New York Times he said that while preemptive use
of force remained "an option that is available to a president or to
a leader," it should not be used lightly.
"It
must be used with great care and judiciousness and with a clear
understanding of the obligations that we have as a responsible member of
the international community," stressed the secretary of state.
He
admitted, however, that since the September 11 terrorist attacks,
preemptive use of force "has risen in the hierarchy of options a
bit" because of the new threats facing the United States.
Bush
outlined his strategy for preemptive use of force in a speech at the
West Point Military Academy on June 1, arguing that the United States
cannot put its "faith in the word of tyrants, who solemnly sign
non-proliferation treaties, and then systemically break them."
The
doctrine has sparked protests at home and overseas, with critics
accusing the United States of adopting an aggressive posture.
Seeking
to dispel the criticism, Powell pointed out that the U.S. historical
record indicated Americans were not prone to seek conflict and
undertaking preemptive acts for the purpose of seizing other countries'
territory.
“But
we ought to not see it as an entirely new doctrine or concept that
supersedes all other doctrine and principle and theory," warned the
secretary of state.
In
another development, U.K. newspaper the Guardian reported Sunday that
the U.S. has begun a massive military buildup required for a war against
Iraq, ordering the movement of tens of thousands of men and tones of
materiel to the Gulf region.
The
paper said that there is compelling evidence which emerged in the past
week that the U.S. has begun a military build-up not seen since the last
Gulf war. Among the troops arriving in the region are an estimated 2,500
in Jordan, the paper said adding that although officially en route for
an exercise, sources claim their real purpose is to provide anti-missile
protection in the Jordanian desert to give Israel advance warning
against any Iraqi attack launched in response to a U.S. invasion.
There
have also been persistent reports that U.S. and British Special Forces
have established an operating base near Incerlik in Turkey, from which
they have begun mounting liaison missions into northern Iraq in recent
weeks, said the Guardian.
The
slow but persistent build-up is reminiscent of the slow gathering of
forces prior to the Gulf war, which was characterized by blanket
official denials that the troop movements were related to preparations
for war, it added.
In
a further sign that U.S. and British forces are preparing for attacks on
Iraq, allied aircraft struck a ground-based Iraqi anti-shipping missile
site at Basra in the early hours of yesterday, said the Guardian adding
that the strike followed raids against Iraqi air defense sites last week
that sources claim may have involved up to 100 planes.
Similar
attacks have been carried out every few days this year. These types of
attacks were common during the Clinton administration but were
discontinued by President Bush because they were thought to be achieving
little, it said.
Their
resumption is part of the military and political preparation for a
larger assault. Rather than starting a new war, an option for the
supporters of 'regime change' is to ratchet up attacks a step at a time,
until a final drive to Baghdad, reported the Guardian.
