-Caveat Lector- >From http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/09/international/middleeast/09IRAQ.html?ex= 1029873100&ei=1&en=8febfd31285dbf9c
August 9, 2002 Iraq Is Defiant as G.O.P. Leader Opposes Attack By ERIC SCHMITT ASHINGTON, Aug. 8 — The House majority leader, Representative Dick Armey, warned today that an unprovoked attack against Iraq would violate international law and undermine world support for President Bush's goal of ousting Saddam Hussein. The remarks by Mr. Armey, a Texas Republican who is retiring this year, are the most prominent sign of Congressional unease that the administration is moving rapidly toward a war against Iraq and were especially striking coming from a leading conservative and a staunch Bush ally. Mr. Armey's comments came on a day when Mr. Hussein, celebrating the anniversary of the end of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war with a military parade, delivered a television speech in which he warned "the forces of evil" not to attack Iraq. Mr. Armey, speaking to reporters in Des Moines during a campaign swing for a House candidate, said, "If we try to act against Saddam Hussein, as obnoxious as he is, without proper provocation, we will not have the support of other nation states who might do so." "I don't believe that America will justifiably make an unprovoked attack on another nation," he said. "It would not be consistent with what we have been as a nation or what we should be as a nation." In response to a reporter's question, he said: "My own view would be to let him bluster, let him rant and rave all he wants and let that be a matter between he and his own country. As long as he behaves himself within his own borders, we should not be addressing any attack or resources against him." President Bush has repeatedly stated that the administration's goal is to overthrow Mr. Hussein, in large part because of the threat Iraq's suspected programs to acquire chemical, biological and nuclear weapons pose to its neighbors as well as to American and allied forces in the region. Mr. Armey did not directly address the issue of what the United States should do if it was determined that Iraq was continuing to build weapons of mass destruction. The White House had little reaction to Mr. Armey's comments. "The president has not decided on a particular course of action and is keeping all his options open," said Scott McClellan, a White House spokesman. "Beyond that, it's speculating about hypotheticals." In his televised, 22-minute speech, Mr. Hussein said that "the forces of evil" — a play on words alluding to Mr. Bush's inclusion of Iraq as being part of an "axis of evil" — would "die in disgraceful failure" if Iraq is attacked. Mr. McClellan said the speech did not alter Mr. Bush's view of Iraq. "The Iraqi government needs to comply with the responsibilities it agreed to at the end of the gulf war," Mr. McClellan said. Mr. Bush has carefully sidestepped the question of how and when the administration would accomplish its goal of ousting Mr. Hussein even as senior military commanders have presented options to the president and his top aides that range from invading Iraq with as many as 250,000 troops, to one involving 80,000 to 100,000 troops swooping in on Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, and other military centers in hopes of quickly collapsing the government. Mr. Bush pledged this week that he would consult with Congress before ordering any invasion, but he stopped short of promising to ask for a vote authorizing an attack. Leaders of Iraqi groups that oppose Mr. Hussein will meet here on Friday with senior State and Defense department officials to discuss the policy to remove the Iraqi leader. Mr. Hussein has refused to deal with United Nations weapons inspectors since they left nearly four years ago, and Iraq remains under United Nations sanctions imposed at the time it invaded Kuwait in 1990. At the end of the 1991 Persian Gulf war the lifting of those sanctions was linked to Iraq ending its programs of biological, chemical and nuclear weapons and the development of missiles to deliver them. Iraq recently sent letters inviting United Nations officials and members of Congress to visit Iraq for talks, but lawmakers and United Nations officials dismissed the offers, saying they were attempts to circumvent the existing conditions for the return of inspectors. Kofi Annan, the United Nations secretary general, said today that the Iraqi government had not given "an inch" on complying with the conditions for a resumption of inspections. "I don't see any change in attitude," Mr. Annan said. Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld have both said recently that the return of international inspectors to Iraq would not be enough to eliminate Mr. Hussein's hidden arsenal. Mr. Rumsfeld said Iraq's actions to conceal weapons laboratories deep underground and put them on mobile trailers might make inspections useless. Today, Mr. Armey said the failure to resume international arms inspections inside Iraq would be insufficient grounds for war. "In my estimation it is not enough reason to go in, that he does not allow weapons inspections," Mr. Armey said. "What if the French decided they wanted to inspect American military facilities?" Mr. Armey said he had supported the Persian Gulf war, which drove Iraq out of Kuwait. But in this case, he said, basic principles of international law apply, and that attacking Iraq without a specific provocation would violate those norms. "He has a right to hold dominion within his own national boundaries, as obnoxious as he is and as comical as he can be," said Mr. Armey. "He is what we in Texas know as a blowhard, he can't help himself." Other prominent Republicans, including Senators Richard Lugar of Indiana and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, have said recently said that the conditions for a pre-emptive strike against Iraq are not yet in place. They and other lawmakers from both parties have recommended other steps first, including stricter enforcement of the no-flight zones, and rallying support among allies in the Middle East and in Europe. This is the second instance recently in which Mr. Armey has challenged White House policy. Mr. Armey objected to an administration proposal to encourage taxi drivers, cable-television installers and other workers who jobs routinely take them through the nation's neighborhoods to report signs of terrorism to a national hot line. Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company | Permissions | Privacy Policy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A<>E<>R + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Forwarded as information only; no automatic endorsement + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut." --- Ernest Hemingway <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
