Iraq Gains Scores Amid Mounting US War Threat: Analysis

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, September 06, 2002

Iraq Gains Scores Amid Mounting US War Threat: Analysis

Iraq on Thursday gained scored by reaping a unanimous Arab opposition to "any threat of attack" against it amid a heightening US war tone.

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Iraq on Thursday gained scored by reaping a unanimous Arab opposition to "any threat of attack" against it amid a heightening US war tone.

Arab foreign ministers ended up a two-day meeting here with a resolution on firmly rejecting a possible US attack on Iraq, a move analysts believe will spark a backlash for the next step to be taken by the United States.

No Justification to Attack Iraq

The United States has been accusing Iraq of developing weapons of mass destruction to pose a threat to security of its neighboring countries, an allegation that has been denied by Iraq.

US President George W. Bush has threatened to use all tools at his disposal to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Earlier on Thursday, Bush tried again to convince the world that Saddam is a real threat.

"I will remind them (world leaders) that history has called us into action, that we love freedom, that we'll be deliberate, patient, strong in the values that we adhere to," Bush said in a speech in Louisville, Kentucky.

"We can't let the world's worst leaders blackmail, threaten, hold freedom-loving nations hostage with the world's worst weapons," he said.

But Arab analysts argued that Thursday's resolution could be interpreted as a refusal of the US justification of a military strike against Iraq.

"The resolution is a unified message directly addressed for the United States, and it implicates that Arab neighbors of Iraq do notsee Iraq a threat," El Sayed Amin Shalaby, executive director of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs, a noted think tank, said.

"Does the United States have any evidence that Iraq develops weapons of mass destruction or it is connected with Osman bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist network," Mamdouh Salem, a researcher of Egypt's National Center for Middle East Studies, said to Xinhua.

The war threat against Iraq has also sparked off a heated debate at home, prompting Bush to listen to various opinions.

Former US president Jimmy Carter has raised doubts about the Iraq's threat, dealing a blow to hardliners in the Bush administration.

"As it has been emphasized vigorously by foreign allies and by responsible leaders of former administrations and incumbent office-holders, there is no current danger to the United States from Baghdad," Carter said in an article carried by Thursday's Washington Post.

He also expressed his disagreement with the US go-it-alone policy, while stressing the need for the United Nations to force unrestricted inspections in Iraq.

In a phone interview, Shalaby also warned the United States not to try to change the Saddam regime, saying such a US move could have a dangerous precedent for the international relations.

"If the United States does try to change a legitimate regime by force, we can say we will return to the jungles," said Shalaby, who underlined the right of the people to decide their leadership.

On Tuesday, visiting Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri, defended Saddam's leadership as the will of the Iraqi people.

"President Saddam was elected by a vast majority of the Iraqi people, and they have voiced more support for him at a time when they have heard the voice of intimidation," Sabri said in an exclusive interview.

"Iraq rejects any US threat and pressure, and the United States blows his own trumpet for offering freedom to others, while infringing upon the freedom of others," he stressed.

US Double Standard Refuted

Arab League chief Amr Moussa on Thursday blasted a US double standard on the implementation of UN resolutions at a press conference held at the end of the two-day Arab foreign ministers' meeting.

"We wonder why should we insist only on the Iraqi implementation of Security Council resolutions, although it is correct we should call on Iraq to implement Security Council resolutions," Moussa said.

"But what about Israel? And why establish a standard that Israelis absent from not only the implementation (Security Council resolutions), but from a call to implement (resolutions)," he argued.

"We are for the implementation of the resolutions all the way through by all countries," he stressed.

In early August, Iraqi Foreign Minister Sabri sent a letter to UN chief Kofi Annan, inviting the chief UN weapons inspector to Baghdad for technical talks.

The letter said Hans Blix, executive chairman of the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, and his experts were welcome to discuss outstanding disarmament issues "to establish a solid basis for the next stage of monitoring and inspection activities and to move forward to that stage."

The UN inspectors left Iraq in December 1998 on the eve of a US-British bombing campaign to punish Baghdad for not cooperating withthe arms experts.

Under UN Security Council resolutions, the sanctions imposed on Iraq by the United Nations for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait, can only be lifted when the weapons inspectors certify that Iraq's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons have been destroyed.

Speaking to reporters here on Tuesday, Sabri said the return of inspectors is part of UN Security Council resolutions, adding Iraq calls for implementing these resolutions.

However, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz has scoffed at aUS call for the return of the inspectors.

"If the American allegations about Iraq's so-called weapons of mass destruction is a genuine concern, we are ready to work with the United States, with the Security Council to reach the truth, but if it is a pretext, a hoax pretext to attack Iraq, what can we do?" Aziz said.

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