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US warns of
war by Christmas
Alison Hardie Political Correspondent BRITAIN and the United States could be at war with Iraq by Christmas, a senior member of George Bush’s administration warned yesterday. Colin Powell, the US secretary of state, raised the prospect of an early military strike, piling pressure on Saddam Hussein to comply with international demands that he surrenders his weapons of mass destruction. The United Nations passed a new security council resolution on Iraq three days ago which called on Saddam to allow inspectors access to his stocks of weaponry. The Iraqi parliament adjourned last night without decision during after an emergency session yesterday to discuss its response. The White House believes that the resolution gives it the power to launch military action against Baghdad without having to seek fresh UN support should Saddam at any point fail to comply with it. He has until Friday to say whether he will allow the UN inspectors to return under the new mandate, and the next deadline comes on December 8 when he must supply a list of Iraq’s weapons programmes. The US is making it clear it is ready to act then if Saddam fails at that hurdle. The threat of an imminent strike against Iraq was underlined by Tony Blair in his annual speech to the Lord Mayor’s banquet in London last night when he declared that "terrorism and weapons of mass destruction are linked dangers". The Prime Minister also delivered the most chilling warning yet of the threat posed by al-Qaeda and international terror cells to the United Kingdom. He said: "These are new and different dangers. These can strike at any time, across any national boundary and in pursuit of a cause with which there can be little or no rational negotiation." On the prospect of an imminent military strike against Iraq, Mr Blair said: "There is no dispute with the Iraqi people. Iraq’s territorial integrity will be absolute. The dispute is with Saddam. It is now up to him as to how it is resolved - by peace or by conflict." The Prime Minister deliberately sought to ready the country for war and to urge vigilance in the face of a dramatically increased terrorism threat to the United Kingdom. He said Britons should expect terrorist attacks and be alert to "present and real" dangers, especially when travelling. Mr Blair added: "At the moment, barely a day goes by without some new piece of intelligence coming via our security services about a threat to UK interests." He insisted the threat posed to the entire world by "failed states" which possess weapons of mass destruction was more serious than the Cold War. In sharp contrast to Mr Blair’s measured warnings yesterday, Mr Powell said on CNN: "We’re not going to wait until February to see whether Iraq is co-operating or not. "If I were Saddam Hussein, I would take it with a great deal of concern and seriousness and understand that this is not some idle threat that has been issued by the United States. "This is not some resolution to be ignored, as he’s ignored all previous resolutions." President Bush, speaking at a veterans’ day service in Washington yesterday, said: "The danger from Iraq is clear and its multiplied a thousand times over by the possibility of a chemical or biological or a nuclear attack. The time to confront this threat is before it arrives, not the day after." The Iraqi parliament is expected to symbolically reject the UN resolution today and refer it to the Revolutionary Command Council, which is overseen by Saddam, for the ultimate decision on compliance. President Bush is reported to have decided on a war plan that includes bombing strikes followed by up to 250,000 US and British soldiers if the UN resolution fails. Military strikes had not been expected to start until February, after weapons inspectors are due to report back to the UN, and when weather conditions would be better suited to desert war. Mr Blair said it was important to remember the threat from terrorist and weapons of mass destruction was as real today as it was on 11 September last year. He said: "Today’s breed of terrorist knows no bounds of geography, of inhumanity, or of scale. They are looking for ever more dramatic and devastating outrages to inflict upon the people they claim to be their enemy. There is an added dimension - it is not just that they care nothing for the lives of others, they care nothing for the loss of their own life." Mr Blair’s speech reinforced last week’s warning that Britain could be hit by a "dirty" nuclear bomb or by a nerve gas attack. He said: "The dilemma is reconciling warning people with alarming them; taking preventive measures without destroying normal life." |
