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Iraq Destroys Al-Samoud, U.S. Unsatisfied
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| U.N. weapons inspectors set off for a site outside Baghdad to supervise the Iraqi missile destruction |
BAGHDAD,
March 1 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Although U.N. arms
inspectors set off Saturday, March 1, for a site outside Baghdad to
supervise the destruction of four Iraqi Al-Samoud 2 missiles,
Washington claimed the long-awaited step was not enough to head off
the looming war.
Iraq
Information Ministry Director General Uday al-Tai, said four of the
missiles, which the U.N. experts say are banned, would be destroyed at
the said site, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Shortly
afterwards, Iraqi officials said the destruction process already began
with international teams in witness.
The
U.N. experts were welcomed by officials from Iraq's National
Monitoring Directorate (NMD), which liaises with the U.N. arms
experts.
"It
was agreed at a meeting with the U.N. this morning that the
destruction operation would begin today with the scrapping of four
missiles at Al-Taji," Tai told reporters.
He
said the inspectors would also Saturday dismantle the castings used to
manufacture the missiles, with a view to destroying them Sunday, March
2.
Chief
U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix had asked Iraq to start scrapping the
missiles, warheads, component parts and manufacturing systems by
Saturday, after U.N. experts said they breached the 150-kilometer
limit under U.N. disarmament terms.
Although
Baghdad insisted that the missiles lack a guidance system which
controls the range of their flying, Iraq accepted to destroy all of
them.
Blix
lauded Iraq’s
decision as "a very
significant piece of real disarmament," but the United States
and Britain have denounced it as a decoy tactic.
A
"technical meeting" earlier Saturday was designed to cover
the modalities of how to destroy the missiles.
Both
sides afterwards described the talks, which lasted 90 minutes and were
held at NMD headquarters, as "good."
"Not
Enough"
Ironically,
Iraq’s acceptance to destroy the missiles, a key demand of
Washington and London, was slammed by both allies as not enough to
show the country's full compliance with the U.N. disarmament
resolution.
"Of
course he (Iraqi President Saddam Hussein) is going to throw out
concessions the whole time, the nearer military action gets. ... That
is what he has played for 12 years," British Prime Minister Tony
Blair told The Guardian Saturday.
Baghdad's
announcement also appeared unlikely to move the White House, which has
asserted that only Saddam's ouster could dissuade it from unleashing
war.
White
House spokesman Ari Fleischer said that nothing short of complete
disarmament, along with Saddam leaving the country, would stop a
U.S.-led strike.
"President
(George W.) Bush has always predicted that Iraq would destroy its Al
Samoud 2 missiles as part of their games of deception," Fleischer
said Friday.
"I
think when you summarize Iraq's statement, that in principle they will
destroy their missiles, the Iraqi actions are propaganda wrapped in a
lie, inside a falsehood," he claimed.
The
United States and Britain have together massed
more than 225,000 troops in the Gulf for a possible war allegedly
to rid Iraq of its alleged arsenal of banned weapons.
Fleischer
said that Washington was only insisting on enforcement of the United
Nations resolution.
"The
U.N. set out the standard: full, immediate, complete
disarmament," Fleischer said.
"That
is the standard, that is the answer, that is what has not
happened."
"We
Will Disarm Him Now"
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| "I've thought long and hard about the consequences and the price that could be paid (for war)," Bush said |
Even
before Iraq's announcement, Washington urged a military solution to
the crisis with Bush claiming Saddam has no intention of disarming and
must be forced to do so.
"My
attitude about Saddam Hussein is that if he had any intention of
disarming, he would have disarmed," Bush said in an interview
with USA Today published Thursday, March 27.
"I've
thought long and hard about the consequences and the price that could
be paid (for the looming war)," Bush said, asserting that
Washington "will disarm him (Saddam) now."
Bush
has often said that time is running out for Iraq, but his remarks
Thursday were the strongest indication he has given that he believes
war is unavoidable, added the American paper.
He
expressed little concern about debate at the United Nations, the
prospect of a veto of a resolution that would clear the way for war,
or the opposition of some allies.
Seeking
a second U.N. resolution that could authorize war was "a
commitment to our allies and friends," he said.
But
the draft was met with wide
opposition among the world body members that insisted that
diplomatic channels have yet to be exhausted before thinking a
military offensive against Iraq.
Regardless
of the outcome, "the most important part about whatever happens
is that (Saddam) be disarmed."
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