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"A debate is needed within the international community, so that everybody can make a judgment about this”
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WASHINGTON,
Sept 2 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – U.S. Secretary of
State Colin Powell told BBC Sunday, September 1, that President George
W. Bush wanted the U.N. inspectors who left Iraq in 1998 to go back in
before any decision is taken on a military strike.
He
said the inspections would be a first step, but that the U.S. also
needed to present evidence of its suspicions about Iraq to the
international community, so that an informed judgment could be made
about possible military action, reported BBC News Online.
Powell's
comments seem to contradict U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney who said
last week that there was no point sending weapons inspectors back into
Iraq - and argued forcefully for military action, BBC said.
BBC
dubbed Powell as “a lone moderate voice in a government dominated by
hawks”.
Powell
broke his recent silence on Iraq, telling BBC that "the world has
to be presented with the information" and intelligence on Iraq.
"A debate is needed within the international community, so that
everybody can make a judgment about this," he said.
Yet
according to Powell, Bush has clearly said he believed weapons
inspectors should return to Iraq.
"As
a first step, let's see what the inspectors find, send them back
in," said Powell.
According
to Sunday’s issue of U.S. weekly magazine, Time, Powell plans to step
down at the end of the Bush's four-year term.
"He
will have done a yeoman’s job of contributing over the four years. But
that’s enough," an aide close to Powell told the weekly news
magazine.
As
the aide told Time, Powell feels that "I did what my heart told me
to do. I got [Bush] here and set him up. I did the best I could
do."
According
to the aide, only the imminence of a major diplomatic victory, in the
Middle East, for example, could convince Powell to stay on – should
Bush win a second term in 2004. Powell is not himself angling for a shot
at the presidency, the aide said.
Meanwhile,
Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under
former U.S. president Bill Clinton, slammed on Fox television what he
called the "public disarray" in U.S. policy toward Iraq.
Instead
of making the case "unambiguously with a single group of people
singing from the same song sheet," Holbrooke said, U.S. officials
are "undermining their own case, first by the disarray ... and
secondly, by their failure to recognize that they must seek
international approval through the U.N. Security Council."
If
the Security Council refuses support, "you've laid the predicate
for action," which will help U.S. allies such as Britain and Turkey
to support U.S. action, "because at least we made the effort,"
Holbrooke said.
Retired
general Alexander Haig, a former NATO commander and secretary of state
under president Ronald Reagan who supports military action against Iraq,
chastised Bush for not offering clear leadership on the issue.
"There've
been nuanced disagreements from day one ... and they should be brought
under control," said Haig, also interviewed on Fox.
Bush
"has got to lead, he's got to unify, he's got to start speaking
with one voice," said Haig. "And the nuanced differences will
always be there until there is a firm decision and a game plan to
implement." 
