| Author | Message | | dangerousdna | | Posted: Wed Jan 08, 2003 8:54 pm Post subject: U.S. planning 'devastating war' against us, Iraq wails |
| http://www.nydailynews.com/front/breaking_news/story/49828p-46772c.html
U.S. planning 'devastating war' against us, Iraq wails
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq said Wednesday the United States and Britain were preparing a "devastating war" against it and renewed charges that U.N. inspectors searching for banned weapons were exceeding their mandate.
The charges, made by Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, came a day after the United States and Britain announced the dispatch of weapons and thousands of troops to the Gulf region and voiced skepticism about Iraq's commitment to disarm.
"The aggressors in Washington and London are preparing for a devastating aggression against ... the people of Iraq and they would like once again to destroy the City of Peace (Baghdad) as they did in 1991," Aziz told a visiting delegation from South Africa.
As for the U.N. inspectors, who returned to Iraq in November after a four-year hiatus, Aziz said their mission in the country went beyond the search for weapons of mass destruction.
"They are searching for other information about Iraq's conventional military capabilities, the Iraqi scientific and industrial capability in the civilian area, and also espionage questions."
Citing it as an example of how the inspectors may have sought to recruit Iraqis, Aziz said a scientist from Baghdad's Mustansiryia University was asked by inspectors during an interview whether his salary was enough for him. "What has this question to do with the matter of weapons of mass destruction?" asked Aziz.
Asked about similar accusations made by President Saddam Hussein on Tuesday, U.N. spokesman Hiro Ueki said U.N. officials had received no formal complaint about alleged espionage and had noticed no change in cooperation from Iraqi officials.
"The inspectors are not spies. They are international civil servants," Ueki said.
Speaking to reporters later Wednesday, Aziz said visits such as the South African one showed that "many, many honest men and women in the world do not believe the lies which are being fabricated in Washington and London, and this is a very important international development."
The United States accuses Iraq of stockpiling weapons of mass destruction and says it will use force if necessary to disarm the Arab nation. Iraq denies the charges and insists it already has destroyed its biological and chemical weapons and halted its nuclear program and the making of banned missiles. There have been no known instances of serious problems encountered by the inspectors since they began work Nov. 27.
In a significant move, the American battle staff that would run a military campaign against Iraq is beginning to assemble at a command post in the small Gulf state of Qatar. Battle planners from the Central Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East and South Asia, are heading from their permanent headquarters in Florida to Camp As Sayliyah in Qatar to be in position to carry out any attack order from President Bush, U.S. officials said.
The officials stressed that the move to Qatar does not mean war is imminent or inevitable, but a senior U.S. official speaking on condition of anonymity said the deployment of battle planners, which began this week, was part of an accelerating buildup of forces in the Gulf region. Tens of thousands more combat forces are scheduled to flow into the region over the next few weeks.
Britain, meanwhile, ordered a task force of ships and 3,000 Royal Marines to head toward the Gulf to confront Iraq "if and as required."
Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon also announced the call-up of 1,500 reserve soldiers.
In Washington, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld renewed accusations that Iraq was not being forthcoming in revealing his weapons programs as required by U.N. resolutions. He said that while that war with Iraq "clearly is not inevitable," the American troop buildup in the Gulf would continue.
In Iraq, the U.N. inspection team said six of its eight helicopters are now flying, allowing them to expand the range of their search for banned weapons.
The inspectors used their helicopters Tuesday for the first time since their return, sweeping across Iraq's western desert. Ueki said he was not aware that any choppers were used Wednesday.
On Wednesday, the inspectors visited eight sites, including three cement factories and a missile fuel factory, all south of the capital. They also visited Saddam University's medical school in Baghdad, a pharmaceutical company in the northern town of Mosul and a maintenance workshop at the Irrigation Ministry.
Asked if the helicopters would increase the ability to carry out surprise visits, Ueki told a Tuesday news briefing that the arms experts would have to inform Iraqi officials when they plan operations in the country's airspace, but he added: "Of course, we don't have to say where."
"There will be many surprises, I hope," Ueki said.
Originally published on January 8, 2003 | |  | | | ©2002-2009 WarWithoutEnd.co.uk |
