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		5 - 11 September 2002 Issue No. 602 Region	Current issue Previous issue Site map
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Recommend this page

Debating Iraq
As the Bush administration continues its rhetorical offensive for a war on Iraq, opposition mounts at home and abroad. Salah Hemeid writes

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A painting of Saddam Hussein hangs in a Baghdad street, as the debate over Iraq rages on; UN's Kofi Annan meets with Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz in Johannesburg
On Thursday, Vice-President Dick Cheney lashed out again at Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. According to Cheney, Saddam was a "brutal dictator" who is seeking the "domination of the entire Middle East, to take control of a great portion of the world's energy supplies and directly threaten America's friends throughout the region, subjecting the US and other nations to nuclear blackmail."
Speaking with fiery rhetoric in a speech to Korean War veterans in San Antonio, Cheney said Saddam is developing weapons of mass destruction, "with the purpose of inflicting death on a massive scale", and insisted that action against the Iraqi leader should come sooner rather than later. He added that UN weapons inspectors had "missed a great deal" because "they hadn't found out about Saddam's development of deadly chemicals. He tested missiles almost literally under the noses of the inspectors."
Rhetoric aside, the Bush administration is struggling to deal with growing opposition by the international community, and an increasingly sceptical Congress, for its plans to oust Saddam. Inside the US, critics of Bush's plan to attack Iraq said that United Nations (UN) weapons inspectors should be allowed to return to Iraq first. On Saturday, former US President Bill Clinton and his wife Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton urged the Bush administration to use caution before any military action against Iraq.
Secretary of State Colin Powell, a former general and a "dove" within the administration, said UN arms inspections should resume in Iraq as a "first step" towards assuring that Saddam Hussein is not building weapons of mass destruction. Highlighting a division within the top echelons of the Bush administration, Powell's support for UN inspections contradicted Cheney's declaration. Former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole stepped into the intensifying US debate on Sunday, urging the administration to seek congressional approval for any plan to topple Saddam, in order to present a united front.
Congressional leaders have also greeted Cheney's assertions with scepticism. Tom Leahy, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said "the administration should not expect to commit American troops to war with a wink and a nod to Congress." "There should be a full debate and a vote," he added. "That is what the Constitution prescribes, and what the American people expect." Senator Russ Feingold, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said nothing short of formal approval for an attack on Iraq would be acceptable. "The Constitution states that Congress has the sole power to declare war," Feingold said. Not seeking formal approval, "is an affront to Congress and to the American people", he added.
In the meantime, world leaders have also been urging caution. French President Jacques Chirac joined German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, by voicing concern over a unilateral US attack on Iraq. In a speech to French ambassadors in Paris on Thursday, Chirac said unilateral action against Iraq would be contrary to "the cooperation of states, the respect of law and the authority of the [UN] Security Council".
China, Russia and Turkey have joined the international chorus opposing war, urging restraint. Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said, "any decision to use force against Iraq would not only complicate an Iraqi settlement but also undermine the situation in the Gulf and the Middle East." He reiterated the Russian position that inspections resume and called for an eventual end to UN sanctions imposed on Iraq.
Even former South African President Nelson Mandela had some harsh words to say, "we are appalled by any country, whether a superpower or small country, that circumvents the UN and attacks independent countries."
Arab foreign ministers, concluding their bi-annual meeting in Cairo today, are expected to draft a resolution that gives Iraq full backing in resolving the standoff through the UN.
Meanwhile, Iraq is intensifying its diplomatic offensive to stave off a US assault. Several envoys have been dispatched to world capitals garnering support in opposing a US strike. Seeking to exploit the Bush administration's failure to speak with one voice on Iraq, Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz said on Monday, that Baghdad had not ruled out a return of weapons inspectors.
He went further, on Tuesday, by declaring that, while Iraq was bracing for a US attack, it was ready to cooperate with the UN Security Council in a solution to the crisis.
Speaking after meeting UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in Johannesburg, Aziz told the UN chief that if "anybody has a magic solution to deal with all the issues together, equitably and reasonably ... we are ready to cooperate with the United Nations and explain our position in a reasonable manner".
Whatever the outcome of its diplomatic manoeuvring, Baghdad seems vigilant, and is taking measures to confront any possible American military action. Iraq's military is reportedly digging in to protect Baghdad, in what military experts describe as the biggest build-up of defences around the city since the Gulf War. Spurred into action by American threats, Iraqi bulldozers have been digging defensive positions for tanks, artillery and troops. US defence officials agree that some military units are spreading out their heavy equipment, making them more difficult to target, and anti-aircraft defences are being moved to improve the protection of the Iraqi capital from US airstrikes.
Realising that some of the US military's overwhelming superiority in technology and training would be mitigated in an urban conflict, Saddam has said he will take any battle with US forces to the streets of Baghdad and other Iraqi cities. According to military experts, this is likely to be Saddam's best strategy in a new confrontation with the United States.

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