Clinton Approves Use of Nukes
PDD on Iraq
Armed with new power to use tactical atomic warheads against Iraqi weapons sites, the United States warned Saddam Hussein yesterday that "substantial" military action is only weeks away.
"It's not days and it's not months, so that leaves weeks," Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said in Jerusalem.
Washington prefers to find a diplomatic solution to the standoff over U.N. weapons inspections, but "that string is running out," she said.
"If diplomacy runs out, we have reserved the right to use force, and if we do so, it will be substantial."
Albright did not spell out the threat, but U.S. officials noted that the Clinton administration has changed American nuclear-weapons policy to permit targeting Iraq with tactical atomic warheads.
In November, they said, President Clinton signed a top-secret directive allowing the United States to drop atomic bombs on Iraqi weapons sites if Saddam launches a major biological attack on Israel or neighboring countries.
Addressing bigwigs in Davos, Switzerland, House Speaker Newt Gingrich endorsed going beyond airstrikes if Saddam doesn't back down.
"We cannot afford just a bombing campaign at the end of which he makes weapons of mass destruction, and we cannot afford to walk off and not try to stop him," the Georgia Republican told the World Economic Forum's annual meeting.
"Bring all of your diplomatic pressure to bear in the next two weeks. And if he is not prepared to back down, support the United States in whatever level of action we have to take," he said.
"And, if he doesn't back down then, support us in whatever level of escalation we have to take."
Speaking in Jerusalem, Albright said the administration doesn't think it needs the U.N. Security Counsel to pass a new resolution before the United States can use military force under the existing authorization.
"We believe we have the authority for a strike," she said.
"The threat posed by Saddam Hussein's continued defiance of the Security Council and obstruction of U.N. weapons inspections is greatest to the peoples of this region."
Albright is in the Middle East to rally support for a possible military strike against Iraq.
The crisis began in November, when Iraq refused to allow U.N. arms inspectors into presidential compounds and other key sites to search for banned biological, nuclear and chemical weapons.
Russia remains opposed to the use of force.
Moscow yesterday sent special envoy Viktor Posuvalyuk to Baghdad for the second time in a week to search for a diplomatic compromise.
France said it would send a senior official to Iraq within 48 hours, carrying a strong warning from President Jacques Chirac.
And Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem announced that his country was ready to mediate.
But Saudi Arabia, America's closest ally in the Persian Gulf, said it would not allow the United States to use Saudi bases to mount strikes against Iraq.
"Saudi Arabia will not allow any strikes against Iraq, under any circumstances, from its soil or bases in Saudi Arabia, due to the sensitivity of the issue in the Arab and Muslim world," a senior Saudi official said.
Washington relied heavily on Saudi and Turkish bases during the 1991 Gulf War.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, asked Albright for several days' advance warning of any strike.
New York Post, Feb. 2, 1998 |
