The Latest Developments:
URL: usatoday.com
09/21/2002 - Updated 10:43 AM ET
Background on Iraq
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS ON IRAQ
• U.S. troops are increasing their training with friendly forces in the Persian Gulf and are ready to act against Iraq if called upon, Gen. Tommy Franks, the head of U.S. Central Command, said Saturday. Franks, who oversaw U.S. military action in Afghanistan, acknowledged increased military exercises in the Gulf region. Further U.S.-Kuwaiti amphibious, ground, air and naval training exercises were expected to begin this month.
• Iraq on Saturday rejected U.S. efforts to secure a U.N. resolution threatening war, with Iraqi state-run radio announcing Baghdad will not abide by unfavorable new resolutions adopted by the U.N. Security Council.
• President Bush declared in an aggressive new national security strategy Friday that the United States will stop any adversary challenging America's military superiority and adopt a strike-first policy against terrorist threats "before they're fully formed." The 35-page document, titled "The National Security Strategy of the United States of America," marks the end to the deterrent military strategy that dominated the Cold War and officially shifts the country to a pre-emptive policy that Bush first outlined at West Point in June.
• Russia is leaving the door slightly open to compromise as the Bush administration insists on a new U.N. resolution to threaten Iraq with war if it does not disarm. Russia's decision could turn on whether it gets new and convincing evidence that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is building up stockpiles of dangerous weapons.
• The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N's nuclear watchdog, put its 18-member core team on alert after Iraq's announcement this week that it would accept the inspectors' return. The team could leave as soon as the U.N. Security Council clears the mission and visa and travel arrangements are nailed down. Hans Blix, chief U.N. weapons inspector, told the Security Council Thursday that if all goes well at talks scheduled with the Iraqis in Vienna for Sept. 30, he could have an advance team on the ground by Oct. 15 and that some early inspections could be conducted soon afterward.
• Edmund Stoiber, the conservative challenger to Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, would not question the United States' use of its own bases in Germany for an attack on Iraq. A spokesman helped clarify Stoiber's stance, shared in a TV interview Thursday. Stoiber was asked if he would allow Germany to be used as strategic staging ground for a war on Iraq, and replied, "Certainly never if the Americans go it alone."
•Iraq is free of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, Saddam Hussein told the United Nations in a speech read Thursday by his foreign minister. The White House dismissed the speech as a "disappointing failure." The comments were the first attributed to the Iraqi leader since Iraq's surprise announcement this week that it would accept the unconditional return of international weapons inspectors. The decision, which followed a tough speech on Iraq last week by President Bush, has divided the major powers on the U.N. Security Council.
•Congress must authorize the use of military force against Iraq before the U.N. Security Council votes on the issue, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told Congress Wednesday. Rumsfeld's testimony came shortly after President Bush said Saddam is "not going to fool anybody" with his promise to admit weapons inspectors and predicted the United Nations will rally behind his Iraq policy despite signs of unease.
• The United States and Britain began drafting a new resolution on Iraq on Wednesday aimed at authorizing the use of force should Baghdad fail to comply with U.N. Security Council resolutions, Western diplomats said. The draft may be ready by next week and then circulated to the three other permanent members of the Security Council - France, Russia and China - one of the diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press.
• The return of U.N. weapons inspectors to Iraq could delay or complicate U.S. military action there because of the narrow window when the weather is suitable for ground attacks, military analysts say. U.S. officials the ideal time for launching such action is late fall through early spring, when temperatures are moderate enough for ground troops to travel in heavy armored vehicles and wear bulky suits to protect against chemical or biological weapons. Iraq said Monday it would allow unconditional weapons inspections. The process could take months as United Nations teams arrive and begin their work. The effect for the Pentagon could be a delayed opportunity to strike. |
