Powell Aide Disputes Views on Iraq
Source: Washington Post, Wednesday, August 28, 2002; Page A16
CRAWFORD, Tex., Aug. 27 -- The Bush administration's argument that an attack on Iraq would make it easier to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict received a challenge from an unlikely source: retired Marine Corps Gen. Anthony C. Zinni, a senior adviser to Secretary of State Colin L. Powell.
In a speech to the Economic Club of Florida in Tallahassee, reported in the Tampa Tribune, Zinni said war against Iraq would alienate U.S. allies in the region. "We need to quit making enemies that we don't need to make enemies out of," Zinni said.
In Friday's speech, Zinni argued that the United States would be wiser to negotiate peace between Israelis and Palestinians and to pursue the al Qaeda network before going after Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
"It's pretty interesting that all the generals see it the same way," Zinni said, "and all the others who have never fired a shot and are hot to go to war see it another way," the newspaper reported.
"The president has made no decisions," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said today in response. "And the president will continue to be deliberative, be patient. But as the vice president said yesterday, we will not underestimate this risk."
Zinni, a former chief of the U.S. Central Command, holds an unpaid position in the administration. He works exclusively on Israeli-Palestinian issues when asked by Powell, but has not undertaken any missions since the beginning of the year. |
