Iraq Vows to Enhance 'Fighting Potentials' Amid US War Threats

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, August 18, 2002

Iraq Vows to Enhance 'Fighting Potentials' Amid US War Threats

Iraq on Saturday vowed to strengthen its "fighting potentials" as the US decision-making process of possible military strikes on Iraq is well on the move.

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Iraq on Saturday vowed to strengthen its "fighting potentials" as the US decision-making process of possible military strikes on Iraq is well on the move.

Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Military Industrialization Abdul Tawab Mulla Howeish made the pledge during a meeting with President Saddam Hussein.

Howeish asserted his pledge to continue to "promote the fighting potentials of the great Iraqi people looking forward to victories" with updated science and technology, the official Iraqi News Agency reported.

Howeish's remarks came as the United States is still mulling over how to topple the Saddam regime in Iraq, possibly by resortingto force.

US President George W. Bush said Friday that his decision on whether to take military actions against Iraq would be based on the "latest intelligence" though he will continue to listen to domestic debate on the issue.

"America needs to know, I'll be making up my mind based upon the latest intelligence, and how best to protect our own country plus our friends and allies," Bush told reporters at his private ranch in Crawford, Texas.

The US president reportedly plans to meet his National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice, over the weekend and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld next Wednesday at his private Ranch in Crawford.

Bush has branded Saddam's regime as part of an "axis of evil," along with Iran and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and accused them of pursuing weapons of mass destruction and supporting terrorism.

He has repeatedly vowed to achieve a "regime change" in Iraq with all the tools at his disposal, including full-scale military strikes.

Facing the growing US saber-rattling, Saddam has remained defiant, repeatedly saying that any aggression against his country is doomed to fail.

In a blow to the widely spread rumors that Saddam would step down after the current presidential term to avert a US-led war aimed to oust him, Saddam was nominated Thursday as the candidate for Iraq's next president by the decision-making Revolutionary Command Council.

A referendum on the presidency is expected to be held this October, when Saddam's current seven-year term expires. He secured a 99.96 percent vote in the last referendum, which took place on October 15, 1995.

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