Iraq & the Arabs
Iraq News, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 6, 1999
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. NAT'L ASSEMBLY DECLARES END TO UNSCOM, IRAQ RADIO, DEC 27
II. ARAB PARLIAMENTARIANS CALL FOR LIFTING SANCTIONS, JORDAN TV, DEC 28
III. MUBARAK, THE IRAQI REGIME IS THE PROBLEM, MENA, DEC 28
IV. EXCERPTS OF SADDAM'S ARMY DAY SPEECH, AL JAZIRAH SPACE TV, JAN 5
V. SADDAM AND BIN LADEN, NEWSWEEK, JAN 11
On Dec 23, Bruce Reidell, NSC Adviser on Near East and South Asian
Affairs, explained to USIA's Worldnet Global Exchange, "The Iraq
Liberation Act provides the president with the authority to draw down US
military equipment to support Iraqi opposition groups. That's an
authority that we welcome having, but have made no decision about using
at this point. . . . Our support for the Iraqi opposition will be on a
careful, prudent step-by-step approach. I think the place to start is
with political support . . . At this point we have no plans for
training, for arming Kurdish groups or any other groups. That's
something that we will not reject as an option in the future, but not
something that we currently intend to plan on doing."
"Iraq News," Dec 15 [the day before the US/UK strikes began] noted
that given how Iraq had dealt with UNSCOM, it seemed to be preparing the
basis for the next crisis. "Iraq News," Dec 21 [the day after the
strikes ended] noted the defiance of the Iraqi leadership.
Over the holidays, both the crises and defiance continued, and even
grew. Why does Saddam do this? Yesterday, Sec State Madeleine Albright,
on the Jim Lehrer Newshour, said, "I think that some of the actions of
Saddam today and his rhetoric, calling on people in Arab countries to
overthrow the governments that do not support him really shows Saddam's
increasing isolation and desperation." White House spokesman, Joe
Lockhart, said yesterday, "We've seen over the last eight years that he
often takes these steps when he's frustrated and when he's isolated."
And Pentagon spokesman, Kenneth Bacon, said yesterday, "For Saddam
Hussein defiance frequently is his only strategy. . . . It is very
difficult to psychoanalyze Saddam Hussein, but some of this evidence
looks like desperation."
"Iraq News" does not believe that. This situation is reminiscent of
the period Jan-Aug 90, when Saddam began stirring tensions with the US,
UK, Israel, and finally Kuwait. With each incident, an ad hoc
explanation was offered and generally accepted--Saddam was worried that
the US was seeking to overthrow him; he was worried that Israel was
going to bomb him; Kuwait really was overproducing oil and depriving
Iraq of revenue & etc. Of course, it all became clear after Aug 2,
1990. The same sort of thing seems to be happening now. Every time
Saddam makes a move, an ad hoc explanation-and one not too troubling for
the administration--is produced.
On Dec 26, Iraq's Nat'l Assembly met and formally declared that
UNSCOM's "work in Iraq is over" and that it had terminated Iraq's
relationship with UNSCOM.
Tensions between Iraq and several Arab countries have dramatically
escalated, reaching a level of vitriol not heard since the Gulf war. On
Dec 27, a one-day emergency conference of the Arab Parliamentary Union
[APU] consisting of delegations from Arab parliaments, met in Amman.
The APU is more sympathetic to Iraq than the Arab governments, and the
meeting went well for Iraq. It focused on one topic, "The US-British
Aggression on Iraq, and Lifting the Siege Imposed on Its Fraternal
People." And it called for lifting sanctions and ending the no-fly
zones. But Jordanian Crown Prince Hassan addressed the meeting. While
he expressed considerable sympathy for the Iraqi people and high regard
for Iraq's role in Arab history, his distaste for the regime was evident
in his failure to say a word about it and he was viciously attacked by a
member of the Iraqi delegation.
Meanwhile, as Cairo's Middle East News Agency [MENA], Dec 24,
reported, Arab League Secretary General, Ismat Abd al Majid, acting on
the initiative of Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Salih, sent letters to
the Arab Foreign Ministers proposing an emergency meeting in solidarity
with Iraq. The idea was to prepare the way for an Arab summit, which
would mark Iraq's rehabilitation in Arab politics, and call for the
lifting of sanctions. A majority of Arab states, including Morocco,
Algeria, Libya, and Sudan, supported the move. But on Dec 28, as MENA
reported, Abd al Majid announced that the meeting had been postponed to
Jan 24, at the request of the GCC.
Egypt exercises considerable influence over the Arab League.
Perhaps, anticipating an Iraqi attack on Egypt for the decision to
postpone the Arab Foreign Ministers meeting, Pres. Hosni Mubarak gave an
interview to a Cairo paper summarized by MENA, Dec 28. Mubarak
explained that "the ruling regime there [in Iraq] is the cause of the
problems. Egypt, naturally, does not support this regime." That
triggered a vitriolic, ongoing attack on Mubarak/Egypt by Iraqi
officials/the Iraqi press to which Egypt has replied in kind, and which
is described in today's NYT.
On Jan 6, Iraqi Army day, Saddam regularly gives a speech.
Yesterday, Qatar's Space Channel Television broadcast excerpts of that
speech, which will be broadcast today in full on Iraqi television. It
was the most fiery denunciation of Arab leaders Saddam has made since
the Gulf war. Saddam began, "O Arabs, O sons of our glorious [Arab]
nation: Peace be upon you once again. May there be no peace upon those
who do not vividly remember that they are a living part of a great
nation which God intended to be a lesson and a teacher to others. . . .
They should fear no one except the one and only God. Everyone else is a
mere human being. If we have a duty towards them, we will perform it.
If they fail to perform their duties toward us, we will demand that they
do. If they refuse and insist on pursuing their wrongful path, then we
should-or rather we must-place the swords of jihad on their necks to
defend ourselves, our property, our honor, and the homeland of the Arabs
and Muslims. . . . As for those who occupy high official posts, if
anyone of them is not enlightened . . . then he is not fit to occupy
such post . . . Those who are aware of this fact but who are accomplices
with the enemy and who are fraudulent are silent devils. They also must
leave or else be fought with swords and lances. . . . In Iraq, hundreds
of thousands-children, women, and men-are burned by the fire and
blockade of the aggressors every year. This fire was intensified by the
aggression of the aggressors on the Day of Conquest. Those who betrayed
their nation, as well as their infidel foreign friends who betrayed God
and humanity, seek to burn the entire Iraq population of 23 million
people. . . . O Arabs, Muslims and believers from various faiths, your
Jerusalem is a humiliated captive. The Kaaba in Mecca and the prophet's
tomb in Medina are injured by the presence of the foreigner and his
spears . . . O Arabs and Muslims, your holy places are being insulted.
The aircraft of the aggression took off and its missiles were launched
and are being launched against your land, people, and holy places in
Iraq, from the water, airspace and the land of the gulf. O sons of
Arabs and the Arab Gulf rebel against the foreigner, his army, and
armies. Chase them and expel falsehood and its representatives. . . ."
What is it that Saddam might intend? He has significant popular
support among Arab populations, as suggested by the widespread Arab
protests that accompanied last month's bombing campaign. Perhaps, he
hopes that further crises will generate more protests and more pressures
on Arab governments. Also, Iraq has long been cultivating support
through Arab and Islamic "popular" conferences held regularly in
Baghdad. Perhaps, if there is insufficient spontaneous support for
Iraq, those suborned by Iraq and assisted by Iraqi intelligence might
help stir things up. And, finally, there is the scenario suggested by
"Iraq News," Dec 15, a version of which appeared in Newsweek, Jan 11.
An Arab intelligence officer told Newsweek, "'Very soon you will be
witnessing large-scale terrorist attacks run by the Iraqis.' . . . The
attacks, he says, would be aimed at American and British targets in the
Islamic world. . . . This source says plans have already put into action
under three 'false flags': one Palestinian, one Iranian and one 'the
al-Qaeda apparatus,' the loose collection of terrorists who receive bin
Laden's patronage. 'All these organizations have representatives in
Baghdad,' says the Arab intelligence officer. According to this source,
Saddam expected last month's American and British bombing campaign to go
on much longer than it did. The dictator believed that as the attacks
continued, indignation would grow in the Muslim world, making his
terrorism offensive both harder to trace and more effective. With acts
of terror contributing to chaos in the region, Turkey, Jordan, Saudi
Arabia and Kuwait might feel less inclined to support Washington.
Saddam's long-term strategy, according to several sources, is to bully
or cajole Muslim countries into breaking the embargo against Iraq,
without waiting for the United Nations to lift it formally. With the
sudden end of the allied air offensive, the Iraqi challenge to US and
British overflights in the exclusion zones may have been Saddam's way of
keeping the regional pot boiling. . .
"Though it was too early to know for sure, the CIA suspected that bin
Laden had a hand in the abduction of 16 foreign tourists in Yemen last
week. . . Most kidnappings in Yemen are strictly cash-and-carry affairs,
in which tribal desperadoes raise money without harming their captives.
But these kidnappers, who came from a Yemeni group calling itself
Islamic Jihad, demanded that the authorities release two of their
leaders, who have ties to bin Laden. And they said they were protesting
Western 'aggression' against Iraq.
"The idea of an alliance between Iraq and bin Laden is alarming to
the West (what if Baghdad gave the terrorists highly portable biological
weapons?) . . . 'The worst thing you can do is to wound [Saddam], let
him know you meant to kill him, and then let him survive,' says an Iraqi
Shiite leader in London. As his own people know only too well, Saddam
is quite capable of fighting dirty."
I. NAT'L ASSEMBLY DECLARES END TO UNSCOM
Baghdad Radio Carries National Assembly 'Decision'
Baghdad Republic of Iraq Radio Network in Arabic 1130 GMT 27 Dec 98
["Decision" issued by the Iraqi National Assembly at the end of the
ordinary session held on 26 December 1998; read by announcer]
[FBIS Translated Text] The National Assembly extends greetings of pride
and respect for leader President leader Saddam Husayn, may God watch
over him, for his unique wisdom, courage, and dexterity in managing the
noble battle on the al-Fath Day [Conquest Day] against the aggressive
imperialist-Zionist alliance -- something which had a noticeable effect
on the steadfastness of our valiant people and brave Army in confronting
the waves of inhumane aggression and the inclination toward hegemony and
tyranny.
The Iraqi National Assembly also extends greetings of pride for our
brave, steadfast, mujahid people and our courageous Army for their stand
of pride and steadfastness against the aggression and aggressors, as
well as for their absolute loyalty to the dear homeland and the
leadership of President Saddam Husayn, may God watch over him.
The Iraqi National Assembly highly greets the Arab masses throughout
our greater Arab homeland--parliaments, parties unions, organizations,
and personalities--who expressed their effective, fraternal solidarity
with Iraq and who condemned the aggressors. In doing so, they embody the
unity of struggle, objective, and common pan-Arab destiny.
The National Assembly commends the stands of the Russian Duma and the
Jordanian House of Representatives, in particular, as well as all
councils and parliamentarians throughout all continents, for their
support for justice and condemnation of aggression and US-British
arrogance.
As the National Assembly reviews the relationship between Iraq on one
hand and the UN Security Council and the UN Special Commission [UNSCOM]
on the other, as well as the possibility of lifting the unjust sanctions
on Iraq, the assembly notes its statements and decisions issues in this
regard on 25/10/1997, 3/11/1997, 16/11/1997, 30/12/1998, 5/8/1998,
14/9/1998, and 12/11/1998. The National Assembly asserts Iraq's
fulfillment of its legal commitments, stipulated in the related Security
Council resolutions, particularly Part C of Resolution 687 and Iraq's
freedom from any mass destruction weapons and banned material. The
National Assembly recalls the Security Council's pledge to lift the
economic embargo in accordance with Paragraph 22 of Resolution 687. The
National Assembly believes that UNSCOM has violated its peaceful, legal
mission and acted as a spy for foreign intelligence agencies that are
hostile to Iraq, something which endangered Iraq's national security, as
admitted by senior UNSCOM inspectors. Based on this, we say that its
work in Iraq is over.
The National Assembly stresses that the United States and Britain
have committed a criminal military aggression against Iraq in a
unilateral way and without any authorization from the Security Council,
contrary to the UN Charter and international law. They also imposed
no-fly zones in northern and southern Iraq without any legal bases,
thereby weakening the international organization and undermining its
credibility as a protector of world security and peace. In light of the
foregoing,
1. The National Assembly stresses the need to implement the Assembly's
previous decisions mentioned above regarding Iraq's relationship with
the UN Special Commission and the relevant Security Council
resolutions, including the termination of the relationship with the
Special Commission.
2. It strongly condemns the savage military aggression the United States
and Britain launched at midnight on 16 December 1998, using the most
destructive weapons of its war arsenal, including missiles of spite and
bombs of evil against our steadfast and safe people, considering it a
flagrant violation of international law and disruption of the UN
Charter.
3. It strongly rejects the conditions presented by the aggressor war
criminals in Washington and London as a strategy to deal with Iraq after
the end of their missile and air aggression.
4. It holds the United States, Britain, and their collaborators in
Kuwait and Saudi Arabia responsible for the consequences of their
criminal aggression and Iraq reserves the right to demand compensation
for its human and material losses.
5. It calls on Arab, Islamic, and other international parliaments to
adopt binding decisions to lift the unjust embargo imposed on Iraq,
which has no legal or moral grounds, and denounce the brutal US-British
aggression, which is a blatant violation of the UN Charter and
international law and organized official terrorism against a safe
country and people.
[signed] The Iraqi National Assembly, 26 December 1998
II. ARAB PARLIAMENTARY UNION CALLS FOR LIFTING SANCTIONS
Amman Jordan Television Network in Arabic 1910 GMT 27 Dec
[Final statement of the emergency session of the Arab Parliamentary
Union, in Amman, on 27 December - read by an Arab parliamentary
official]
[FBIS Translated Text] In the name of God, the compassionate, the
merciful. The 33d emergency session of the council of the Arab
Parliamentary Union [APU]--Amman, 27 December 1997.
Under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Hasan Bin-Talal,
crown prince and regent, and in response to a kind invitation by the
Jordanian House of Representatives, the APU council held its 33d
emergency session in the Jordanian capital, Amman, on 27 December 1998
in order to denounce the treacherous aggression launched by the United
States and Britain against fraternal Iraq at dawn on 17 December 1998
and to emphasize the solidarity of the Arab parliamentarians with Iraq
and their support for its fraternal people.
Arab parliamentary delegations representing the APU member states of
Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Tunisia, Algeria, Syria,
Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon, Libya, Egypt, Morocco, Mauritania, and Yemen
took part in this emergency session. The Kuwaiti parliament apologized
and requested a delay for another date. Djibouti also apologized, and
the Sudanese delegation was not able to attend, and sent a message that
will be distributed to the council members.
The agenda of the emergency session includes one topic entitled "The
US-British Aggressionon Iraq, and Lifting the Siege Imposed on Its
Fraternal People." The inaugural session of the 33d emergency session of
the APU council was held at the Royal Cultural Center in Amman. It began
by a Koranic recitation. His Royal Highness Prince Hasan Bin-Talal, the
regent and crown prince, delivered a speech. He began by welcoming the
members of the delegations taking part in the APU council session and
wishing them a pleasant stay. He hoped that they will achieve good
results.
His highness said: Our solidarity with the Iraqi people and our
defense of their basic rights is in defense of every Arab people in any
Arab country that may face harm. His highness added: We want to preserve
the dignity of the Iraqi people and preserve their right to have free
and dignified life. We want their present to be a link in the chain of
their deep-rooted history and their promising future, and we want the
land of Iraq to remain impregnable and glorious in its unity. His
highness said, in principle, Jordan rejects the policy of economic
sanctions on any country because it is an unfair policy against the
simplest rights of human beings to live and survive. His highness also
called for making the whole Middle East a zone free of weapons of mass
destruction and free of the means of their production, stockpiling,
transporting, and using.
Dr. Ahmad Fathi Surur, chairman of the APU council and speaker of the
Egyptian People's Assembly, delivered a speech at the beginning of the
inaugural session in which he expressed deep thanks for the initiative
of the Jordanian House of Representatives by calling for convening the
APU emergency session, which was received with immediate response from
the Arab parliaments.
Dr. Surur said the aggression that took place against Iraq represents
a serious precedent in international relations that can--if it is
repeated, God forbid--wreck Arab, regional, and international stability.
Dr. Surur added that what was called the military strike on Iraq took
place in the clear absence of the principles of international law and
the supervision of the UN Security Council. Dr. Surur reviewed in detail
the serious expansion of the prerogatives of the UN Security Council,
which led to the transfer of some of these prerogatives into the hands
of some influential countries within the council. Dr. Surur explained
the tasks that need to be carried out on the Arab level, chief among
which is to seek an immediate solution to the humanitarian tragedy the
Iraqi people are experiencing; initiate a serious Arab dialogue to reach
a peaceful formula for the security of the Arabian Gulf; and have an
effective Arab participation in the international dialogue between the
relevant parties in general, and within the UN Security Council in
particular, to formulate a new relationship between Iraq and the United
Nations.
Following the conclusion of the opening session, the 33d emergency
session of the APU council began listening to the speeches of the heads
of parliaments and of the parliamentary delegations which are
participating in the session. All the speeches discussed the treacherous
US-UK aggression on Iraq, stating their denunciation and condemnation of
this aggression and their full solidarity with the fraternal Iraqi
people. Discussions and deliberations were also held during the working
session and were permeated with a high sense of pan-Arab responsibility
and awareness of the Arab state of affairs and its various
ramifications. At the conclusion of these discussions, a resolution was
passed to adopt the speech of His Royal Highness Prince Hasan Bin-Talal
as an official document of the emergency session of the APU council.
The following resolution was also passed: The APU Council in its 33d
session in Amman,
Expressing awareness of pan-Arab responsibility and the gravity of
the US-UK aggression against pan-Arab security;
Recalling in this respect the threats engulfing the Arab nation and
its countries and the responsibility of the Arab governments on the
pan-Arab level, particularly the need to achieve Arab reconciliation
that would restore Arab solidarity and safeguard pan-Arab security
through dependence on the Arabs' inherent capabilities and the
activation of the institutions of joint Arab action, with the Arab
League at their head;
Reconfirming the previous decisions adopted by the various conferences
of the APU on Arab issues;
Referring to the UN Charter, particularly paragraph 1 and 4 of
Article 2;
Referring also to the declaration of the principles of international
law on cordial relations and cooperation among countries in accordance
with the UN Charter that the General Assembly adopted in its resolution
No 2625 on 24 October 1990;
Reaffirming the definition of aggression that the UN General Assembly
adopted in its resolution No. 3314 on 14 December 1994;
Noting that the missile and air attacks by the forces of the United
States and the United Kingdom on Iraq, the latest being on 17 December,
are a blatant aggression against Iraq;
Highlighting the continued Iraqi people's tribulations from the
embargo imposed on them for more than 8 years--an unprecedented embargo
in the history of mankind--which were further aggravated by the recent
aggression whose inhumane results affected all walks of life in Iraq;
Noting the gravity and illegal nature of adopting selective stands or
double standards when dealing with international issues, particularly by
some UN Security Council members whose responsibility is to safeguard
international peace and security;
Appreciating the Iraqi people's steadfastness in the face of the US
and UK aggression in spite of their difficult circumstances as a result
of the perpetuation of the siege that is imposed on them;
Saluting the courageous stands announced by the masses throughout the
Arab and Islamic world and the world at large condemning the aggression
and expressing solidarity with Iraq;
Valuing the stands of friendly parliaments, particularly the Russian
Duma, when it denounced the aggression and called on its government to
unilaterally not honor the embargo, decides the following:
First: It strongly condemns the unjust US-UK aggression against Iraq.
Second: It asserts the effective solidarity of Arab parliamentarians
with the unity, independence, and national sovereignty of Iraq, and
their rejection of all forms of regional and international interference
in its internal affairs.
Third: It calls on Arab governments to seek to lift the blockade
imposed on Iraq and put a final end to the suffering of the fraternal
Iraqi people.
Fourth: It calls on the member Arab parliaments to make
recommendations urging the Arab governments to lift the blockade imposed
on Iraq.
Fifth: It calls for canceling the no-fly zones in northern in southern
Iraq, given that these no-fly zones are not based on any UN resolution,
undermine Iraq's national sovereignty, and threaten Iraq's territorial
integrity.
Sixth: It calls for convening an urgent Arab summit to make the
necessary decisions with regard to supporting Iraq and examining Arab
developments and threats facing pan-Arab security.
Seventh: It decides to send an Arab parliamentary delegation to Iraq
to reiterate support for it, get acquainted with the damages and
destruction inflicted by the US-British aggression, and publish this in
a report that will be distributed to all world parliaments.
Eighth: It entrusts the APU's Chairmanship with sending messages to
the parliaments of the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of
China to express the appreciation of the Arab parliamentarians for the
principled stands adopted by their countries on the aggression against
Iraq.
Ninth: It particularly salutes the Jordanian House of Representatives
for its decision to lift the blockade on Iraq.
Tenth: It calls on the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the regional
parliamentary unions, and parliaments all over the world to condemn the
US-British aggression as a blatant violation of the UN Charter and
international law, and to support the Iraqi right to have the unjust
blockade lifted.
Eleventh: It proposes adding an extra article to the agenda of the
forthcoming conference of the Inter-Parliamentary Union regarding
lifting the blockade on Iraq.
Twelfth: It entrusts the APU's Chairmanship and General Secretariat
with arranging a visit by an Arab parliamentary delegation to contact
the European Parliament and other parliaments to discuss the issue
of lifting the blockade on Iraq.
At the end of the meetings, the participants decided to send two
cables of thanks and gratitude to each of His Majesty King Husayn of the
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and His Royal Highness Crown Prince Hasan
Bin-Talal, the regent.
Issued in Amman, on 9 Ramadan 1419 hegira, corresponding to 27 December
1998.
I repeat the first paragraph of the resolution: First, it strongly
condemns the unjust US- UK aggression against Iraq and calls on the UN
Security Council to guarantee it is not repeated and supports Iraq's
right to seek compensation for the material and human losses it
sustained.
[Description of source: Official television station of the Jordanian
Government]
III. MUBARAK, THE IRAQI REGIME IS THE PROBLEM
Cairo MENA in Arabic 0800 GMT 28 Dec 98
Cairo, 28 Dec (MENA)--President Husni Mubarak has emphasized that
Egypt's influence in the latest Iraqi crisis was clear. He stressed
that the Egyptian leadership, Government, and people fully sympathize
with the Iraqi people, "because we know that our sons and brothers in
this fraternal country are helpless and that the ruling regime there is
the cause of the problems. Egypt, naturally, does not support this
regime."
In a statement to al-Jumhuriyah published today, President Mubarak
said that Egypt will remain a country that upholds principles and
historic stands and will continue to care for and defend Arab rights
everywhere. He said that from this premise and out of realization of
our historic and deep pan-Arab responsibility, from the beginning we
very strongly opposed the aerial attacks launched by the United States
and Britain on Iraq, because the Iraqi people alone will pay the price
and are first and foremost affected by the attacks. He said: When we
sensed that the attacks were mounting, I sent an urgent message to
President Clinton and said that the situation was serious and that the
military operations must stop. He noted that, a few hours after the
message, Washington and London stopped their strikes against Iraq. He
said that President Clinton trusts our deeds and words because of
Egypt's clear and candid policy, a policy that constantly defends Arab
rights anywhere anytime. . . .
[Description of source: Government News Agency]
IV. EXCERPTS OF SADDAM'S ARMY DAY SPEECH
Doha Qatar al-Jazirah Space Channel Television in Arabic 1642 GMT 5 Jan
99
[Excerpts of speech by Iraqi President Saddam Husayn marking the 78th
anniversary of the Iraqi Army in Baghdad on 5 January--recorded]
[FBIS Translated Text] 0 Arabs, 0 sons of our glorious nation: Peace be
upon you once again. May there be no peace upon those who do not vividly
remember that they are a living part of a great nation which God
intended to be a lesson and a teacher to others, a model of reawakening,
and an example of virtue to be emulated by humanity throughout history.
God distinguished the Arab nation with the unmatched trait of being the
bearer of prophets. Therefore, none of this nation's children should be
afraid of anyone, except when they are wrong and when they have wronged
others in their actions and thoughts. They should fear no one except the
one and only God. Everyone else is a mere human being. If we have a
duty towards them, we will perform it. If they fail to perform their
duties toward us, we will demand that they do. If they refuse and
insist on pursuing their wrongful path, then we should--or rather we
must--place the swords of jihad on their necks to defend ourselves, our
property, our honor, and the homeland of the Arabs and Muslims.
To begin with, we are one nation. He who believes in this, must not
only see himself; his own interests, and own enemy in the battlefields
which were drawn according to the geopolitical maps which co1onialism
placed so that through them they can guarantee that their interests are
served. Each of us must understand that the enemies of the Arab nation
are our enemies too so far as their schemes to harm the Arab nation are
concerned. Therefore, the enemy of Egypt; or the enemy of Najd and Hejaz
in Saudi Arabia; the enemy of Yemen, Algeria, and Tunisia; the enemy of
Iraq and Syria; or the enemy of any of the other Arab countries each
according to their nature is the enemy of every individual in the Arab
nation and he is the enemy of the Arabs put together.
He who abandons this concept and fails to carry out his pan-Arab role
on the basis of this concept is either an ignorant person who is in need
of enlightenment or a weak person who if he is a mere citizen, is in
need of faith. As for those who occupy high official posts, if anyone
of them is not enlightened or does not have faith in the minimum of
these meanings, then he is not fit to occupy such post and to be
responsible for the sons of our nation in its various states. Those who
arc aware of this fact but who are accomplices with the enemy and who
are fraudulent are silent devils. They also must leave or else be
fought with swords and lances because those who are the symbols of the
nation should be among its best, and honesty and not deception should be
one of the most important traits of its officials. Truthfulness and not
falsehood and deception should be one of the most prominent signs of
sincerity for the values of the nation and respect for the people.
Therefore, the consensus position in our nation is not represented by
a number of rulers, even if they are the majority among the rulers, but
what counts is the position of the majority of people in the nation.
Those who violate these conditions will be outlaws in this nation. It
is the duty of the nation and its great and pious sons to rebel against
them until they restore them to the right path if they are found to be
faithful after their restoration or else remove them from their path.
We and you are aware that some of those who rule over countries in
our nation were brought to office by the foreigners, who also brought
their fathers and some of their grandfathers also in accordance with
these foreigner's conditions and interests, particularly Britain and the
United States, joined by the evil racist Zionism. Therefore, the talk
about the possibility of reforming them, now that they have been
immersed in evil and have no desire to abandon this evil, is a waste of
time. It will give them a chance to further deceive the people and
nation.
O ruling families in some Arab countries, we once again address you
and your young men and women in particular. As citizens of your
countries and nation, you have a double responsibility toward the bad
behavior of those who rule in the name of your families-- a
responsibility to rectify deviation, which is posing a danger and is
shameful not only to your homelands, nation, and people, but to al1 of
you whether you like it or not. When people despair, they find it
imperative to do what has to be done. You are called upon to correct
the deviators, and you are capable of doing that if you want. You will
find that your people and nation will be the first to bless and support
your steps. O faithful Arabs, who truly belong to their nation, its
sublime symbols, and immortal, glorious heritage, we drew attention
earlier on to the fact that one of the most important covers for
deviation and subservience to the foreigners is the fact that the
deviationist rulers are using rationalism as a cover to deal a
psychological harm and frustrate people. That is why some of them
publicly announced that they were incapable of rejecting the foreigner's
desires, plans, and arranged ro1es even if this was at the expense of
the interests of the people and nation.
Their entities, as they say, are small and their capabilities
limited, which do not compare with the capabilities, plans, and methods
of the foreigner.
Some of them do not cease to claim that they respect and believe in
democracy, although they do not ask people to express their views on
plans and positions to respond favorably to the foreigners' desires even
if the latter sets up military bases in their countries or forces them
to allocate funds from oil revenues to finance their invading armies
against the Arab people and land.
Some of the feeble-minded Arab rulers, who have become hostage to
their whims, might need to use popular protests to disavow some of their
humiliating obligations toward the foreigner to please their people,
rather than adhere to their principles and symbols. So pressure them
and raise your voice to disturb the accomplices and defeatists. O sons
of our glorious nation, you have the upper hand.
O Arab officials -- excluding the corrupt, connivers, and
traitors--in some Asian countries of known civilizations, some
individuals burn themselves in public to appeal to the humanity of
people to achieve a certain goal or protest what is against their views
or stands.
In Iraq, hundreds of thousands-children, women, and men-are burned by
the fire and blockade of the aggressors every year. This fire was
intensified by the aggression of the aggressors on the Day of Conquest.
Those who betrayed their nation as well as their infidel foreign
friends who betrayed God and humanity seek to burn the entire Iraq
population of 23 million people. Do you need more so that your voice
becomes louder and to be able to do what is required, even at the
minimum level, regarding your national and pan-Arab responsibilities?
The Iraqi people do not beg anyone to adopt a stand or to do
something, even if this is one of those who support Iraq. Just look
around you and recall the present and recent past so as to know the
defiled ones, the enemies, of the nation, who do not adopt truth as a
virtue although they are in power. Look around you to see how the
evildoers insulted your holy places whose land is trampled by the feet
of the foreigner after they connived with him to strike at faithful,
struggler, mujahid, lofty, and great Iraq.
Look to see how he who did this is attempting to remove the quality
of holiness from the land of your holy places by turning it into a field
for the foreigner from which he attacks faithful believers and their
land, the land of Abraham, and the land of holy places and good
prophets, as well as a great, patient, and mujahid people who are
afflicted with them because they reject falsehood and tell the truth.
O male and female Arab youths, O faithful believers of the sons of
our faithful nation in places of worship, factories, fields, houses,
streets, and the armies of Arab and Muslims, look around you to see how
the unjust ones exceeded all limits. Rebel against falsehood and its
people. Tell the truth in a loud, firm, and lofty voice. Raise your
voices louder to resound in the name of God and the nation. By God,
there is nothing more honorable than a stand where right overweighs
falsehood and where the people of right defeat the people of falsehood.
O Arabs, Muslims, and believers from various faiths, your Jerusalem
is a humiliated captive. The Kaaba in Mecca and the prophet's tomb in
Medina are injured by the presence of the foreigner and his spears. 0
people of Mecca and Medina and Najd and Hejaz, 0 Arabs and Muslims, your
holy places are being insulted. The aircraft of the aggression took off
and its missiles were launched and are being launched against your land,
people, and holy places in Iraq, from the water, airspace, and the land
of the Gulf.
O sons of Arabs and the Arab Gulf, rebel against the foreigner, his
army, and armies. Chase them and expel falsehood and its
representatives. Take revenge for your dignity, holy places, security,
interests, and exalted values. Rebel against falsehood and its people.
Great Almighty God will hear your voice.
The idol rulers will be forced to hear you or depart so as to give
chance to the people to say their opinion and adopt their stand. Allahu
Akbar [God is great]. Damned be the unjust and infidel ones. Allahu
Akbar. Long live our glorious Arab nation, long live Palestine, free,
lofty Arab. Allahu Akbar and ignominy to the lowly ones.
V. SADDAM AND BIN LADEN, NEWSWEEK
http://www.newsweek.com/nw-srv/printed/us/in/in0202_1.htm
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