DB: (Maybe your timing was a bit off).
Tuesday January 12, 4:28 am Eastern Time
Cohen warns of 'frantic and agitated' Saddam
By Charles Aldinger
TOKYO, Jan 12 (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen said on Tuesday that
Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was becoming more ''frantic and agitated,'' adding his voice to
fears of a possible new Gulf crisis.
Cohen, who is on a visit to Japan, vowed the United States would give no ground in enforcing no-fly zones over Iraq and
warned Baghdad it would pay a price if it challenged U.S. and British air might.
With hostility running high after U.S. planes on Monday blasted Iraqi missile sites in a key no-fly zone, the United States
boosted its air power over southern Iraq and Kuwait put part of its military on full alert in response to Iraqi ''threats'' to Gulf
Arab states.
U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright announced a visit to two key Arab states to discuss Iraq.
State Department spokesman James Rubin said Albright planned later this month to go to Saudi Arabia and Egypt -- probably
the most influential Arab states and Washington's closest allies -- for talks on Iraq and the Middle East.
Albright is likely to try to obtain Arab support for the policy of containing Iraq through sanctions backed by tough military
force.
The political battle over United Nations inspections of Iraqi weapons went on unabated, with Baghdad having a victory of sorts
when chief U.N. inspector Richard Butler suspended flights by U.S. U-2 spy planes over Iraq while the Security Council
debated the future of the operation to control Baghdad's arms.
Butler acknowledged that the operation, known as UNSCOM, may be revamped as a result of the current crisis but insisted
the dismantling operation in Iraq was not finished and rejected suggestions he should resign.
The immediate flashpoint was U.S. and British determination to get President Saddam to change his mind about no longer
recognising no-fly zones set up after the 1991 Gulf War to protect Kurds in the north and Shiite Muslims in the south from Iraqi
attacks.
''He (Iraqi President Saddam Hussein) has indicated that he intends to disregard any recognition of the no-fly zones. To the
extent that he does, then his forces will pay a penalty for it. If Saddam continues to either illuminate them or attack them, then
he is going to be attacked in return,'' Cohen told reporters accompanying him on his visit to Japan.
Cohen declined to say whether repeated Iraqi missile threats against U.S. and British jets, or violations by Iraqi warplanes of
the no-fly zones, might prompt wider attacks against the Iraqi military by American forces.
''We are going to protect our forces and take whatever measures are necessary. Beyond that I wouldn't want to say anything.''
Cohen, who met U.S. service personnel at Japan's Yokota and Misawa Air Bases, said Saddam appeared to feel increasingly
cornered since the December 16-19 cruise missile and bombing raids by American and British forces.
''He (Saddam) is lashing out verbally, rhetorically, against the Saudis, against the Egyptians, against the Kuwaitis,'' Cohen said.
That ''and the non-recognition of the no-fly zones would seem to indicate that he is certainly more agitated and frantic...''
Cohen said the December raids were ''one of the most successful'' four-day military operations ever carried out by the United
States.
''As a result of that, he (President Saddam) is starting to act up now,'' Cohen said.
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said on Monday the Iraqi parliament's call for a review of U.N. sanctions posed a major
challenge for the United Nations, but he questioned whether Iraq would follow through with it.
Regards, M2 |
