The Bombing Campaign
Iraq NewsMONDAY DECEMBER 21, 1998
By Laurie MylroieThe central focus of Iraq News is the tension between the considerable, proscribed WMD capabilities that Iraq is holding on to and its increasing stridency that it has complied with UNSCR 687 and it is time to lift sanctions. If you wish to receive Iraq News by email, a service which includes full-text of news reports not archived here, send your request to Laurie Mylroie .
I. SADDAM SPEECH, AL JAZIRAH SPACE TV, DEC 18
II. TARIQ AZIZ PRESS CONFERENCE, AL JAZIRAH SPACE TV, DEC 18
III. TAHA RAMADAN PRESS CONFERENCE, AL JAZIRAH SPACE TV, DEC 19
IV. SADDAM SPEECH, INA, DEC 20
One reader, a US expert in military affairs, commented in response to
Sat's Flash on the end of the bombing campaign, "The bombing may be
over, but I am at a loss to comprehend what was accomplished." "What
was accomplished?" Alice asked. "Why the mission was accomplished," the
Mad Hatter replied.
Richard Perle, Reagan administration Asst Sec Def, told AP,
yesterday, "Desert Storm had a clear objective... This campaign does
not, and it's a significant difference. It seems highly likely that
Saddam Hussein will still be in power and we will still face his weapons
of mass destruction."
An Israeli reader reported yesterday, "Inside the PM's office there
is no particular surprise that the attack was stopped. DM Mordechai
gave a pretty lukewarm comment this afternoon when he visited a Patriot
site. He said, 'I understand that SOME sites were destroyed but that
the Iraqis sill have capability and we assume that the US will continue
with supervision.'"
In a Dec 19 press conference, the UK Sec Def, George Robertson,
described what he called an "anthrax air force." He explained, "In
1990, Saddam ordered the production of unmanned aircraft to spray
chemical and biological agents on civilians and ground troops that he
might wish to attack. Early efforts to convert combat aircraft were not
successful but spraying equipment was successfully tested using an
anthrax-like substance. In 1995, Saddam launched a new programme using
a converted training aircraft code-named L29. The first flights were
started in 1997 and the testing programme is sill continuing. This
aircraft has been fitted with two under-wing weapon stores capable of
carrying 300 litres of anthrax or other nerve agents. If this were to
be sprayed over a built-up area, such as Kuwait City, it could kill
millions of people. Once perfected, we suspect that Saddam had intended
to deploy these drones of death in Southern Iraq as a direct threat to
his neighbours and it was this development programme that we hit on
Thursday night." [see "Iraq News," Jul 22 97, for Iraqi efforts to
obtain and outfit helicopters for CBW spraying, and "Iraq News," Jul 24
97, for an INC report on Iraqi efforts to develop drones for CBW
spraying.]
The Jerusalem Post, Dec 20, reported that during the US/UK attack on
Iraq, Israel deployed Hawk anti-aircraft missile batteries and Patriot
missiles not only to shoot at any possible SCUDs, "but to shoot down
Iraqi pilotless planes capable of spraying anthrax or other deadly germs
on Israel. ... According to defense sources, the drone has the ability
to fly missions lasting up to two hours at 640 kilometers an hour,
covering distances in excess of 1,000 kilometers... Senior security
sources here said the threat of an Iraqi pilotless plane getting through
is being taken as seriously as that of a Scud rocket tipped with a
chemical or biological warhead. 'If they send a plane and it gets
through our air defenses, then some 100,000 people could die from
anthrax,' said one senior security source. The Pentagon has assessed a
much higher casualty rate. According to their figures, 100 kilograms of
anthrax released from a low-flying aircraft over a large city on a
clear, calm night could kill one to three million people. This figure
is comparable to the casualties from a one-megaton hydrogen bomb, a
Pentagon statement said. Deputy Chief of General Staff Maj-Gen. Uzi
Dayan said during an inspection of the Patriot batteries near Tel Aviv
over the weekend that the missiles are not only intended to shoot down
surface-to-surface missiles, but also hostile aircraft. 'The threat at a
time of tension can come from a number of directions and not just
surface-to-surface, but jets as well, for example,' Dayan said. ... Iraq
is also suspected of having modified at least four F-1 Mirage jets with
aerosol spray tanks for the purpose of delivering anthrax."
Do the Israeli measures suggest Iraq already has such capabilities,
or at least a prudent planner would assume so? It has been known since
Hussein Kamil's Aug 95 defection that Iraq retained large, proscribed
unconventional capabilities. Now, it is known that even after the Gulf
War, Iraq continued to develop delivery systems for them. Does that not
suggest an intent to use those weapons for military action in the Gulf?
What does it take for the US to declare that Iraq is in flagrant
violation of the Gulf-war cease-fire, redefine the terms of the
confrontation, and say clearly and unequivocably, that Saddam must go?
This issue focuses on the speeches of Saddam and the top Iraqi
leadership, during the bombing campaign. They were defiant and
contemptuous of the US. And that contempt is not entirely, or perhaps,
even largely, misplaced. As "Iraq News," Dec 10, discussing a hatchet
job a WSJ reporter had done on the INC, wrote "it is not only the
administration that is the problem." There is a pervasive, widespread
complacency.
In a recent preinterview with a Midwestern radio station, "Iraq News"
told the producer that it was necessary to get rid of Saddam. He
responded with shock, "How can we do that," while he knew nothing of the
Iraq Liberation Act or the many distinguished figures who have endorsed
it. So "Iraq News" asked him a question: Namely, 1) The American people
were told about the danger posed by Iraq's BW program-5 lbs of anthrax
can wipe out half of a city the size of Wash DC; 2) they were told that
Iraq has a large BW program, which it refuses to turn over to UNSCOM;
but 3) they find this situation tolerable. How can that be? He had no
answer. A reader, knowledgeable about US public opinion remarked, "They
all believe that we are five minutes-to-midnight on a major CBW
terrorist attack, but they are not prepared to do anything about it."
Yesterday the NYT, ala the WSJ, reported how terribly difficult it
would be to overthrow Saddam. "Any serious new government would have to
come from Iraq's professional and middle classes. Yet it is these
people who have been the direct beneficiaries of the universities,
bridges, roads and secular modernized structure that Saddam has created.
That makes them, paradoxically, the ones with the most to lose if he
departs." Huh? They hate Saddam, because of his extreme ruthlessness
and brutality.
The NYT cited Clovis Maksoud, former Arab League ambassador to the
UN, who said, "There is a deep disassociation with Saddam in Iraq. But
when they are attacked by the Americans, they rally around the flag, and
he happens to be the flag." What about Mar 91, when most of the country
rose in revolt?
The NYT also cited Amatzia Baram, of Haifa U, who said, "Nobody
admires [Saddam] anymore, but most Iraqis still accept and support him .
.. The only hope is to separate him from his power base, prove to his
power base that life is more dangerous with him than without him. That
is part of the point of these bombings." Yet that is the coup option,
which has been tried and failed, during the Gulf war, and in the seven
years since.
Finally, the NYT reporters did not speak to anyone in the INC, which
represents the alternative to the coup option, supported by the US
Congress, and which they sought to trash, while the one Iraqi
"opposition" figure they cited, Ghassan al-Attiyah was a professor in
the Nat'l Security College of the Mukhabarat in Baghdad, is close to
Barzan Tikriti, and is suspect within Iraqi opposition circles.
On Dec 18, after two nights of bombing, Saddam gave a brief, defiant
speech, which contained little of substance. Addressing the Iraqi
people, he depicted the bombing campaign as one more trial that hardened
the souls of virtuous men. He said, "It is the third day of your jihad,
patience, chivalry, and high flags of victory, God willing. We are in
the third day of the immortal days of conquest. . . God wanted this day
to show the ability of the nation and humanity in confronting the
aggression and injustice. Afterward, the nation will discover the way
that will entrench faith and confidence in hearts. This way, the
bulwark of the nation will be strong in the face of the storms of evil
and the ambitions of the devils in the United States and the devils of
Zionism or Zionist devils, and those who are allied with them and give
support to their evil against right . . . By God, we will not bargain,
or conciliate with evil at the expense of right. Nor would we let vice
take the place of virtue. Nor would we fear other than God and kneel to
anyone but Him Almighty."
Later the same day, Tariq Aziz gave a press conference, which
provided more insight into the posture/thinking of the Iraqi leadership.
Aziz began, "What we are witnessing now is not a military conflict. It
is a criminal aggression by the United States and Britain against Iraq,
the Arab nation, the Muslims, and against the entire international
community. . .
"Recently Butler visited Paris and Moscow. There he said things that
were quite different from his report to Kofi Annan. Butler was supposed
to present his report on 14 December. This was the final date. ...
Butler postponed his report until late on 15 December. At that time,
Clinton was in Israel and it is clear that his visit was a failure.
Officially, he received Butler's report while he was in Israel and on
his way back to the United States. Today, the New York Times says that
Butler reported the content of his report to Clinton on Saturday, two
days before reporting to Kofi Annan. These incidents show that there
was coordination between the US Government and Butler on the content of
the report and when to present the report. It is clear ...that the
report by Butler was written to justify the aggression. The Zionist
clique surrounding Clinton advised him to start the aggression to change
the subject from his visit to Israel. There is another matter, about
which I do not want to talk. He wanted to change the subject from truth
to falsification of Butler's report ... as a pretext to commit this
criminal act...
"The Americans and the British, through their experts, know that all
weapons of mass destruction have been totally eliminated. They know
through a monitoring system, which has been there for four years, that
there has not been any violation by Iraq of its obligations enshrined in
Resolutions 687 and 715. ... They are repeating the same lies in order
to justify the crime that cannot be justified.... Look at some of the
targets that they have targeted during the last period. ... They have
attacked the house of the president's daughter. They attacked
presidential sites. Yesterday, the collateral damage, which was
inflicted on the Ministry of Defense, led to a nearby destruction of
hospitals and so on, so forth. They say: We are not attacking civilian
targets. They did. They attacked the radio and television. Radio and
television are not weapons of mass destruction ...
Asked whether he expected the attack to continue into Ramadan, Aziz
replied, "How do we expect a Zionist like Clinton and a Zionist like
Blair to respect the holy month of the Muslims? ... Clinton is a
Zionist. He is surrounded by a clique of Zionists. Those who advise
him to commit the crime are Albright, Cohen, Sandy Berger, and the other
members of the clique. Everybody in Britain and the Labor Party knows
that Blair's background is a Zionist one. These two liars ... cannot
pretend that they respect the month of Ramadan.
But, then, Aziz went on, "The reality is that the resources they could
assemble for this aggression are limited. They are not the same
resources that they assembled in 1991. They cannot fire 200 missiles
every day for one whole month. ... Everybody ... can judge that the
resources are assembled for few days, maybe one, two, or four days, but
they cannot go on with these resources for a very long period of time...
As for the future of UNSCOM, Aziz said, "This pawn, which was used by
the United States, Richard Butler, has killed his job by paving the way
for this aggression. When I was in Moscow, I said something clear, that
Iraq, the Iraqi people, and the Iraqi Government, cannot tolerate UNSCOM
and sanctions at the same time. Now they had added military aggression
and you could imagine what the situation will be."
As for the lack of support for Iraq from Arab states, Aziz said,
"There is the popular and official stands. The popular stand is clear.
I saw rallies and demonstrations in Egypt on al-Jazirah Television
today, as well as rallies and demonstrations in the occupied
territories. I believe that the Arab masses everywhere express
solidarity with Iraq, denounce, condemn, and contempt [sic] the
imperialist and colonialist US-British aggression. On the official
level, there are a number of states that ... denounced the aggression;
however, I would like to say personally that those who issued statements
in which they say they regret. Regret what? Is this a car accident or
a bus that turned over and fell in a river so as to express regret over?
This is an aggression against a genuine Arab people... This is a disdain
to the Arab leaders who express regret. The others express concern.
Concern? Can aggression by confronted by concern? Concern can be
treated by two tablets of valium, but aggression cannot be treated by
valium... Aggression must be confronted by a firm, principled Arab
stand."
On Dec 19, Iraqi Vice President, Taha Yasin Ramadan, gave a press
conference. He made essentially the same points as Aziz, but spoke more
crudely. Ramadan said, "The aggression has been under way not for four
days only, but rather for nine years, with all military, economic, and
political forms... They say they seek to degrade Iraq's ability to
produce weapons of mass destruction. ... I reiterate today that this
issue was finished with the end of 1991 and the beginning of 1992. ...
For four consecutive days, the leaders of the two aggressive countries
said that they decided to strike Iraq because it failed to cooperate
with the UN Special Commission ... They said that they wanted the
aggression to take place before blessed Ramadan. The licentious, who
did not respect the honor of his family or the reputation of his people,
wants to respect the feelings of Muslims toward the month of Ramadan...
However, I assure him, all liars, agents, and the traitors controlling
some parts of the Arab nation that the Iraqi people today are more
determined and loyal to the leadership and leader."
Regarding the Arabs, Ramadan said, "I have something to say to all
Arabs and Muslims who said they regret the aggression and to those who
held Butler solely responsible for the aggression. This is as though
Butler-this little agent-has acted on his own to present this report for
aggression and has not received instructions. However, to avoid
disturbing the big beloved one-America-they took its stand seriously. I
tell the Arab parliaments: Don't you feel ashamed at all? ... It is a
shame that the Duma preceded them in meeting and unanimously demanding
that the blockade by unilaterally broken. ... While the bombs are
falling on the Iraqi people, rulers are issuing orders to police and
security to prevent demonstrators from saying a word or a slogan or to
express sadness for their brothers in Iraq. What kind of officials are
those and what level of lowliness, defeatism, cowardice, subservience
and love for slavery has obsessed them for fear of death or losing their
seats? ...
"Who is threatening the states of the region and the neighbors? Is it
really Iraq? Do those rulers now know that the Zionist entity-with
which they have established relations and are trying to establish
relations with-possesses all kinds of weapons of mass destruction and it
continues to acquire more and that it is indeed the one threatening the
states of the region, because it has usurped the rights of the region?
Regarding the future of UNSCOM, Ramadan said, "All that has to do with
inspection, monitoring and weapons of mass destruction is now behind us.
If they believe that they [the weapons] are somewhere, then they have
destroyed them all.... If, however, they mean to say that the spies will
remain in Iraq so that they can update their information and repeat the
attacks in a more harmful way, then [they should know] that this is over
from now onward."
Finally, Saddam, yesterday, declared victory, in a brief speech.
Addressing the Iraqi people, he said of the bombing campaign, "With it,
resistance and combat started once again in the course of the immortal
Mother of Battles. God has wanted it to be a source of honor, pride,
glory, and blessing for you in this life and in the hereafter. The
Almighty, if he wills, will make it a source of shame and disgrace and
the guilt of a major crime in this life and the hereafter for its
perpetrators-the enemies of God and humanity... May God blind the eyes
of your infidel and oppressive enemies, and unite the entire Arab
nation, including the Arabs that are weak of spirit after they have been
cleansed by the great meanings and true patriotic uprising that you
believe in."
Pending no more surprises on Iraq, "Iraq News" will be taking a few
days off. To all the readers of "Iraq News," best wishes for the
holiday season and for a happy and prosperous New Year.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
