Former US President Says Mistake for U.S. to Attack Iraq Alone

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, September 26, 2002

Former US President Says Mistake for U.S. to Attack Iraq Alone

Former US President Jimmy Carter said on Wednesday it would be a tragic and costly error for the United States to attack Iraq without the support of the United Nations.

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Former US President Jimmy Carter said on Wednesday it would be a tragic and costly error for the United States to attack Iraq without the support of the United Nations.

Carter, a Democrat who served as president from 1977 to 1981, said removing Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein from power would require a far more intensive effort than the 1991 Gulf War or the recent U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan.

"I think it would be a tragic mistake for this country, for peace in the Mideast region," Carter said during a presentation at his non-profit Carter Center in Atlanta.

"We would have to go into the streets" of Baghdad to capture Saddam," said Carter, who added that the effort could further destabilize the Middle East and cost the United States the support of allies.

President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair have argued that the removal of Saddam is necessary to stop Iraq from developing weapons of mass destruction and threatening its neighbors.

Carter, who has been repeatedly nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work monitoring elections and encouraging democratic process from Haiti to sub-Saharan Africa to DPRK, said he doubted that Iraq had nuclear weapons.

He urged Saddam to comply with U.N. resolutions to allow inspectors to return to Iraq.

The United States is now pushing for a strong resolution from the U.N. Security Council mandating aggressive weapons inspections and authorizing the use of force against Saddam should he fail to allow inspectors unfettered access.

Source: agencies

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