Iraq News by Laurie Mylroie
The 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 .
III. FORWARD EDITORIAL, "CHALLENGING CHALABI," APR 23
IV. RAMADAN, US WILL ATTACK IRAQ, REUTERS, APR 27
V. REPORTED SADDAM LETTER, WE WILL SMASH U.S., AL HAYAH, APR 29
III. FORWARD EDITORIAL, "CHALLENGING CHALABI"
Forward
Editorial
April 23, 1999
Challenging Chalabi
Opponents of the strategy of a democratic roll back in Iraq are
making much of the so-called demotion of the president of the executive
council of the Iraq National Congress, Ahmed Chalabi. For a flavor of
it, one can read the dispatch on page three of Wednesday's Washington
Post, the one that runs under the headline "Congress's Candidate to
Overthrow Saddam Hussein: Ahmed Chalabi Has Virtually No Other Backing."
This is the one that has the sneering reference to Mr. Chalabi from
Secretary Albright's assistant for Near Eastern affairs, Martin Indyk.
Why Mr. Clinton wants to have his foreign policy team mocking the
judgment of Senators Lott and Lieberman and Brownback and a few others
who have been marshaling support for the democratic opposition in Iraq,
we don't know. But what happened in London earlier this month is that
Mr. Chalabi agreed to forsake his personal ambition, that is, his
position as president, to become one of seven members of a presidential
council of the Iraqi National Congress. The result will be a broader
coalition.
Among the other members of the council are representatives of the
Iraqi National Accord, the Kurdish Democratic Party, the Patriotic Union
of Kurdistan and other groups. Mr. Chalabi and many of his allies view
the move as something of a victory for three reasons. First, the
representatives all agreed to participate under the umbrella of the
Iraqi National Congress. The council will operate under the INC banner
until a General Assembly meeting is held on July 7, either in Washington
or in London. The essence of the INC is that it is a democratic group
that allows individuals to participate. Mr. Chalabi has stressed the
fact that the democratic nature of the INC is what distinguishes it from
the regime in Baghdad. That the conference got the leaders of the two
rival Kurdish factions to agree to appear at the assembly under the INC
banner is another point of progress, those associated with Mr. Chalabi
say. Finally, the new arrangement will facilitate American funding,
which the INC has been seeking all along.
Of course, there is the fear that the new setup will stymie efforts
to move ahead with Mr. Chalabi's plan to oust Saddam from power with the
use of military exclusion zones and American air power. With the added
voices could come inertia. Mr Chalabi's friends believe that American
financial backing for the INC is worth that price. Senator Kerrey, a
Democrat from Nebraska, came away from the April 7 meeting in London
voicing hope that the INC effort would help bring a new government to
Iraq. A more profound question being asked in Washington about the
roll-back plan involves the current military situation in the Balkans.
Given the poor military planning that went into NATO's American-led
intervention, there are people starting to wonder what good this
administration's promises will be with regard to Iraq. If the plan were
to move forward under the current Washington leadership, would
freedom-loving Iraqis become the next wave of refugees?
IV. RAMADAN, US WILL ATTACK IRAQ
Iraq Vice President Says US Plans Surprise Attack
BAGHDAD, April 27 (Reuters) - Iraq's Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan
was on Tuesday quoted as saying he expected the United States to launch
a surprise attack on Iraq, saying Washington would pay dearly if it did
so.
"We expect the United States to launch a surprise military attack
against Iraq any moment," the Iraqi News Agency INA quoted Ramadan as
saying in an interview with an Egyptian newspaper.
"Washington would pay a dear price if it does so because Iraq is
fully alert to confront such aggression," he said. Ramadan said Iraq
and the United States would remain at loggerheads as along as Washington
wanted to overthrow the Iraqi government. U.S. warplanes, patrolling
Western-imposed no-fly zones in southern and northern Iraq, have been
attacking Iraqi military targets almost daily since December, when the
United States and Britain launched extensive air and missile attacks
against Iraq which lasted four days.
In 1991, Washington led a multinational coalition which drove Iraqi
forces out of Kuwait after a seven-month occupation. Since then,
Washington has been a strong advocate of keeping sanctions on Baghdad in
place, saying they should not be lifted until such action is endorsed by
a U.N. committee responsible for
disarming Iraq.
"The main aim of the embargo is to overthrow the government in Iraq,"
Ramadan said.
Iraq has not allowed U.N. weapons inspectors to return to the
country since they left Iraq shortly before the U.S. and British attacks
began in December.
V. REPORTED SADDAM LETTER, WE WILL SMASH U.S.
London Al-Hayah in Arabic 29 Apr 99 p 3
[Unattributed report: "Saddam Talks To Leading Figures About 'Imminent
Showdown'"]
[FBIS Translated Text]
Amman, Al-Hayah -- Two days after the statements made by Iraqi Vice
President Taha Yasin Ramadan on Iraq's anticipation of "a new US
offensive at any moment," Iraqi diplomatic sources in Amman have
revealed that President Saddam Husayn sent a letter to "higher ranks in
the party, state, and the Army," pointing out that "the showdown with
the United States is not far away." The sources said that President
Saddam Husayn "promised a crucial confrontation that will end in Iraq's
favor." He said in his letter: "Iraq will confront--with determination,
vigor, and a devastating response that will be remembered throughout
history -- the latest US attempt to inflict harm on it." He also said
that "the leadership has received corroborated information about
military movements that will be the foundation for a US aggression."
The sources cited President Saddam as saying: "The aggression --if it
takes place this time-- will end in a manner with which the strategic
calculations of US imperialism will end." He emphasized the necessity
"for them [Iraqi leaders] to use their maximum energies to implement the
leadership's plan in order to ensure that victory belongs to the Iraqis
and the Arabs." The Iraqi diplomatic sources said that President Saddam
Husayn considered "Iraq's previous rounds with the United [States] to be
a preparation for the showdown that will raise Iraq's banner in the not
distant future."
The sources pointed out that "the affirmation by Arab, national, and
Islamic political forces, party, and mass organizations of their support
for Iraq in the upcoming confrontation makes Iraq certain of victory
over the US aggression."
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