Rumsfeld Warns Saddam's Days are Numbered

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, March 21, 2003

Rumsfeld Warns Saddam's Days are Numbered

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Thursday the days of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his Iraqi regime are numbered.

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US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Thursday the days of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his Iraqi regime are numbered.

"The days of Saddam Hussein are numbered. We continue to feel there is no need for broader conflict if the Iraqi leaders act to save themselves and avoid such conflict," Rumsfeld told a press conference in the Pentagon.

"This is not a war against a people, it's a war against a regime," he said, adding that there is no need for Iraqis to leave the country.

Rumsfeld urged the Iraqi soldiers and officers to decided on "whether they want to die fighting for a doomed regime or do they want to survive, help the Iraqi people in the liberation of their country and play a role in a new free Iraq?"

"If Saddam Hussein or his generals issue orders to use weapons of mass destruction, whether on coalition forces, free-Iraqi forces, neighboring countries or innocent Iraqi civilians, as they have done before, those orders should not be followed," he added.

He also confirmed that the initial attacks on early Thursday hit a senior Iraqi leadership compound and the Pentagon was assessing the damage on the compound.

Referring to the question whether it was Saddam himself who delivered a speech on Iraqi television after the military strike, Rumsfeld said, "There's debate about that."

The United States launched air raids against Baghdad at dawn on Thursday, about 90 minutes after the expiry of an ultimatum issued by US President George W. Bush for Saddam to leave the country or face war.

It was learnt that three US warships and F-117A stealth fighters took part in the attacks, and some 40 Tomahawk cruise missiles and precision-guided missiles were fired in three rounds of the so-called "decapitation attack," which was aimed at "selected targets."

Iraqi Minister of Information Mohamed Saeed al Sahhaf said later Thursday that ten people were killed in the first wave of US-led attacks on Iraq.

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