A rchive Date
[ 05-03-2003 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ U.N ]
|
[http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2003/03/05/36716-cp.html
War looms despite disarmament
Wed, March 5, 2003
UNITED NATIONS (CP) - Chief weapons inspector Hans Blix said Wednesday Iraq's destruction of Al Samoud 2 missiles is "real disarmament," but the assessment did little to dispel a growing sense that Washington is ready to wage war on Saddam Hussein no matter what happens at the United Nations.
Saddam, on the other hand, appeared miffed about being forced to destroy the missiles. The Iraqi president said it's a ploy to demoralize his country just before an enemy invasion. Blix had ordered the destruction after determining the missiles' range exceeds the 150 kilometres allowed by the United Nations.
"Do they reach Israel? No," Saddam was quoted as telling Iraqi military commanders. "Do they reach the United States? No. Why do they focus on this detail? Because they think that such minor issues will affect your morale." It was not clear whether Saddam's comments would affect the destruction of the missiles. Iraq has crushed 28 of them since March 1, out of about 100 it is believed to have.
Blix seemed encouraged.
"The missiles is real disarmament," he said at the United Nations. "Here weapons that can be used in war are being destroyed in fairly large quantities." He also said seven Iraqi scientists have submitted to private interviews under UN terms. Previously, scientists had either been questioned in the presence of Iraqi government officials or had tape-recorded the interviews.
But U.S. leaders say whatever Saddam does now is just smoke and mirrors intended to cause a rift in world opinion and thwart the bid by the United States, Britain and Spain to get UN approval for military action against Iraq.
"Iraq's too-little too-late gestures are meant not just to deceive and delay action by the international community, he has as one of his major goals to divide the international community, to split us into arguing factions," U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said in Washington. "There are divisions among us," Powell conceded. "If these divisions continue, they will convince Saddam Hussein that he is right. But I assure you, he is wrong."
But the division seemed deep and well entrenched.
The UN ordered Iraq to eliminate banned weapons in Resolution 1441 adopted last November. In recent weeks, the United States, Britain and Spain drafted a second resolution saying Iraq has failed to disarm, opening the way for military action.
France, Germany and Russia are spearheading the opposing camp that is against war and in favour of continued UN weapons inspections to keep Iraq in check. On Wednesday, the three countries issued a joint statement saying they will not allow the Security Council to approve the U.S.-backed resolution that "authorizes resorting to force" against Iraq.
In Washington, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer cautioned against jumping to conclusions about the outcome of a Security Council vote. U.S. President George W. Bush is "confident in the end of the ultimate outcome" of the resolution debate, he said.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair told the House of Commons in London he was "confident of securing the votes for that resolution."
The U.S. military buildup, meanwhile, is near completion with 230,000 troops in place around Iraq and tens of thousands more en route. While Bush has not yet ordered an invasion, U.S. Gen. Tommy Franks - chief commander in the buildup - said his forces are prepared to move. "Our troops in the field are trained, they're ready, they are capable," Franks said at the Pentagon.
If war begins, U.S. forces would hit Iraq with 10 times as many precision-guided bombs in the opening days of an air campaign as in the 1991 Gulf War, U.S. officials said. Such an assault is meant to "shock and awe" Iraqi defenders. The air strikes would be combined with quick ground assaults in a strategy aimed at overwhelming Iraq's defences, preventing Saddam from retaliating with chemical or biological weapons and crushing Iraqi morale.
But in Baghdad, demonstrators clad in white pledged Wednesday to become martyrs for Iraq, parading through the capital in an organized display of support for Saddam.
A Security Council vote on the U.S.-backed second resolution could come early next week, just days after Blix and his atomic-energy counterpart, Mohammed ElBaradei, report again on Friday to the Security Council.
Washington doesn't yet have the nine votes it needs on the 15-member council. On Tuesday, the Bush administration indicated for the first time it might not call for a vote if its resolution seemed certain to be defeated. Powell will go to the UN on Thursday to try to cajole other Security Council members to back the resolution.
Canada has floated a compromise between the two opposing positions. Although Chile, Mexico and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan expressed interest, the proposal was dismissed by key players including the Americans and the Germans.
Ottawa has made no military commitment for armed action against Iraq unless there is UN authorization.
But as two Canadian warships left Halifax for the Arabian Sea as part of the operation against terrorism, there were worries that the role of HMCS Iroquois and HMCS Fredericton could change if war breaks out in Iraq.
"I'm nervous, excited and anxious," said Cpl. Loretta Parent. "You never know what's going to happen when you get over there."
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
|