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Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)


07 February Iraq Special Weapons News

Operations
Deployments
US Policy
United Nations
Foreign Reactions
News Reports

Current Operations

  • AFGHANISTAN / IRAQ VOA 07 Feb 2003 -- Afghan and U-S officials say remnants of the Taleban and al-Qaida terrorist network will likely try to exploit tensions over Iraq, and possibly step up their activities in Afghanistan, if there is a new Gulf war. But the Afghan and U-S governments say they do not expect the overall security situation in Afghanistan to change significantly.
  • McConnell KC-135s fuel Stealth fighters for first real-world deployment since Allied Force AMCNS 07 Feb 2003 -- The boom operator smiled knowingly through the deafening sound of engines as the KC-135 Stratotanker bellowed down the entire length of the runway late in the night on Feb. 3.

Deployments

  • PENTAGON/IRAQ VOA 07 Feb 2003 -- The buildup of U-S air, land and sea units in and around the Persian Gulf is accelerating, as commanders prepare for a possible war with Iraq.
  • Software improves accuracy, quickens air war planning AFPN 07 Feb 2003 -- A new technology designed to save time and reduce errors in air warfare planning will make its debut in Southwest Asia -- if the United States moves to disarm Iraq.

US Policy

  • White House Daily Briefing White House 07 Feb 2003
  • Bush Again Urges U.N. Security Council to Prove Its Relevance Washington File 07 Feb 2003 -- The United Nations Security Council has to decide soon whether its resolutions requiring the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq to disarm are to mean anything, President Bush said February 7.
  • Armitage: Bush Has Shown Patience With Iraq Washington File 07 Feb 2003 -- President George Bush "has shown patience" throughout the current crisis with Iraq, said Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage. However, he added that patience is running out, and "it is time for Iraq and Saddam Hussein to make the choice to avoid war and it is his choice."
  • Grossman Says U.N. Security Council Unity Critical to Iraq Solution Washington File 07 Feb 2003 -- Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein is more likely to comply with United Nations Resolution 1441, calling for the removal of weapons of mass destruction from his country, if he sees the U.N. Security Council "unified" in its insistence that he quit stalling and do so quickly, said Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Marc Grossman.
  • Disarmament through effective inspections alternative to armed conflict, Blix says UN News Centre 07 Feb 2003 -- The disarmament of Iraq through the inspection process is an alternative to the avenue of armed conflict, the chief United Nations arms inspector, Hans Blix, said today in Vienna, where he made a brief stopover on his way to Baghdad for further talks with Iraqi officials this weekend.
  • UN officials conduct 3 more private interviews as inspections press forward in Iraq UN News Centre 07 Feb 2003 -- United Nations officials conducted three more private interviews today with Iraqi individuals as inspection activities continued at various facilities.
  • RUMSFELD / EUROPE / IRAQ VOA 07 Feb 2003 -- U-S Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says momentum is building for possible military operations to make Iraq give up its weapons of mass destruction. Mr. Rumsfeld spoke in Rome, after meeting with top Italian government officials.
  • BUSH / IRAQ VOA 07 Feb 2003 -- President Bush says the U-N Security Council needs to "make up its mind soon" about confronting Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, if Iraq does not cooperate with inspectors searching for weapons of mass destruction. Mr. Bush wants a second U-N resolution authorizing the use of force.
  • Powell's Presentation to the U-N VOA 07 Feb 2003 -- This week, American Secretary of State Colin Powell presented the Bush administration's most detailed argument for immediate action against Iraq.
  • EDITORIAL: BUSH ON EVIL OF SADDAM HUSSEIN VOA 07 Feb 2003 -- "Year after year," as President George W. Bush pointed out in his January 28th State of the Union address, "Saddam Hussein has gone to elaborate lengths, spent enormous sums, taken great risks, to build and keep weapons of mass destruction." And as the renewed United Nations weapons inspections demonstrate, the Iraqi dictator is still trying to conceal his weapons programs.
  • EDITORIAL: POWELL AT THE UNITED NATIONS VOA 07 Feb 2003 -- Terrorist-supporting regimes that seek and possess weapons of mass destruction pose a grave danger to the world. The Iraqi tyranny of Saddam Hussein is such a regime.
  • EDITORIAL: IRAQ'S AL-QAIDA CONNECTION VOA 07 Feb 2003 -- U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told the United Nations Security Council, "Iraq and terrorism go back decades." Potentially most sinister, Secretary of State Powell warned, is the "nexus between Iraq and the al-Qaida terrorist network."

United Nations

Foreign Reactions

  • INDIA / FRANCE VOA 07 Feb 2003 -- The French and Indian prime ministers have called on Iraq to cooperate with U-N weapons inspectors, and disarm to avoid war. French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin is in India on a three-day visit that focuses on strengthening bilateral cooperation and trade ties.
  • RUSSIA / IRAQ VOA 07 Feb 2003 -- Russia's foreign minister says his country does not believe the U-N Security Council should pass a resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq at this time.
  • BRITAIN / IRAQ VOA 07 Feb 2003 -- The British government's latest dossier on Iraq has stirred a firestorm of controversy, amid revelations that parts of it were plagiarized from a student's thesis. Politicians across the political spectrum are heaping criticism on the report
  • TURKEY//IRAQ VOA 07 Feb 2003 -- Delicate talks are underway on the possibility of creating a northern front against Iraq. The United States wants to station troops in Turkey to prepare to move into Iraq, and Turkey wants its own forces to do the same. But Iraqi Kurdish leaders, who now control that area, are opposed.
  • AUSTRALIA / IRAQ VOA 07 Feb 2003 -- Australia's political debate over Iraq is becoming increasingly heated, with Prime Minister John Howard's support for American policy facing wide-spread opposition. As Phil Mercer reports, one opposition politician called President Bush "incompetent and dangerous," forcing the American ambassador to reply that such personal attacks threaten Australian-American ties.

News Reports

  • SIPULSKI - IRAQ VOA 07 Feb 2003 -- President Bush reportedly has ordered the U-S government to draw up guidelines for the use of cyber-warfare tactics to disrupt enemy computer networks. The Washington Post reports (Friday) that Bush administration officials say they hope to establish rules determining when and how U-S forces could launch cyber-attacks against enemy computer systems. The study is under way amid speculation that the U-S Defense Department would consider a cyber-attack against Iraqi computer systems if Washington launches a military attack on Baghdad.
  • OIL & WAR VOA 07 Feb 2003 -- "No blood for oil," read the signs of many anti-war protestors. It is a common assumption among critics of possible war with Iraq that the United States wants to gain control of its vast oil supply. But this makes no economic sense, say analysts who say the causes of the war lie elsewhere.
  • DICTATORS IN EXILE: WILL SADDAM JOIN THE CLUB? VOA 07 Feb 2003 -- As the U-S led military buildup continues in the Persian Gulf, there are unconfirmed reports circulating that Saddam Hussein may opt for exile in another country rather than fight another war against the United States and its allies. Were Saddam Hussein to go into exile, he would join a select club of former dictators who have fled their home countries for refuge in other nations. However, attitudes towards the perpetrators of mass atrocities have changed in recent years. Many say the world is no longer as welcoming of leaders who have brutalized their own people. x




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