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Politics : WAR on Terror. Will it engulf the Entire Middle East? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Haim R. Branisteanu who wrote (15)	10/23/2001 7:53:05 PM
From: Scoobah	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 32591

I am starting to feel better about my country: debka.com Bush Promises Pressure on… Arafat 24 October: For days the media have reported the US and Israel at loggerheads over the presence of Israeli troops in seven Palestinian towns, since the day after the murder of cabinet minister Rehavam Zeevion October 17. According to DEBKAfile ’s Washington sources, no hint of this was reflected in the conversation President George W. Bush had with Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres Tuesday, when he dropped in on a meeting between Peres and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice. Later, Peres quoted the president as telling him that Middle East violence was making it more difficult to keep the US-led anti-terror coalition together. However, he denied hearing any sort of threats to the strong US-Israel friendship (Labor’s almost-elected leader, Avraham Burg, and other members of his party, together with a long line of politicians, warned that the friendship was in dire peril.) or demands that Israeli troops pull out of Palestinian territory forthwith. Bush, in fact, is quoted by the White House spokesman as promising Peres he would keep “firm pressure” on the Palestinian Authority to stop violence and terror. He also stressed once again that the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat “must make 100-percent efforts to end the violence, arrest terrorists and work against terrorist groups.” Now, he said, is not the time for the US to deal with Arafat, but it would be done at a later stage in the war on terror. The president also took the opportunity of inviting Sharon to Washington next month. After his previous meetings with vice president Richard Cheney and defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Peres said in answer to press questions: “I didn’t hear a word of criticism. I heard a good deal of understanding.” Tuesday, October 23, Israeli airspace was closed without notice for a three day “air force exercise”, a secret that came out when an Arkia Eilat-Tel Aviv flight, finding its flight path unexpectedly closed, turned back to Eilat. DEBKAfile’s military sources report exclusively that Jordanian, as well as Israeli airspace was closed, to enable the landing of US military airlifts to the two countries. The giant C-17 air transports were spotted landing at Ben Gurion and other airports. Peres in Washington - like the defense minister and chief of staff at home - all emphasized that the Israeli army has no intention of staying in Palestinian territory in the long term. But so far, DEBKAfile’s military sources report that IDF commanders have received no orders to arrange for a troop withdrawal this week. Clearly, a rupture in US-Israeli relations is not at hand, notwithstanding the heavy warnings. If anything, the US president appears to be losing patience with the Arab and Muslim world, friends and foes alike. Whereas Monday, the Bush Administration announced warfare would be suspending in honor of the Muslim month of Ramadan starting November 15, Tuesday that promise was withdrawn. The Palestinian leader may also have to adapt to his new standing. Whereas before the Zeevi murder he was the perennial partner for peace, today the US president like the Israeli prime minister consider him a terrorist. Arafat, like even some of the moderate Arab rulers, secretly believes that Osama Bin Laden has scored a signal victory for the Arab nation against mighty America and its Middle East hegemony, leaving Israeli on the brink of eclipse. President Bush is aware of this. Therefore, the dire media assessments are way off the mark. What do matter are the Bush promise to deal with Arafat at a later stage and the American military airlift landing at this moment

To: Haim R. Branisteanu who wrote (15)	10/23/2001 11:02:59 PM
From: Scoobah	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 32591

Wednesday, October 24, 2001 Cheshvan 7, 5762 Israel Time: 04:59 (GMT+2) 07:31 23/10/2001 Last update - 07:32 23/10/2001 Iraq moving chemical weapons equipment into secure bunkers By The Associated Press Iraq is moving some of its chemical weapons industry to underground bunkers, a U.S. government source said. Moving it into specially built bunkers could make it harder to find and destroy, but the United States has designed bombs and other weapons specifically to blow up concealed, bunkered weapons of mass destruction. The source, who spoke Monday, could not say how the bunker project was detected or provide other details immediately. Some Bush administration officials, notably Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, have called for strikes on Iraq, but others want the war on terrorism to focus solely on Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida and Afghanistan's Taliban regime. Without mentioning Iraq by name, Wolfowitz told the national convention of the American Jewish Congress on Monday that the battle fronts will be global. "We are not going to just pick off individual terrorist snakes - we intend to drain the entire swamp," he said. U.S. intelligence has not obtained credible evidence linking Iraq to either the Sept. 11 attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center or the ongoing anthrax scare. "We have no illusions about Saddam Hussein and his record of threats and assaults upon his own people, as well as neighboring countries, is very well known, as are his attempts to develop weapons of mass destruction," State Department spokesman Phil Reeker said Monday. "We don't put anything past (Iraqi President) Saddam Hussein, but I don't believe that there's any clear linkage (to the anthrax attack) at this point." Iraq has rebuilt some of its capacity to make chemical weapons since the Gulf War, and has the scientific expertise to produce such weapons on short notice, according to a U.S. Defense Department report released in January. Saddam has long tried to hide his weapons production capacity. He had previously stockpiled mustard, tabun, sarin and VX chemical agents, says the report, Proliferation: Threat and Response. Information on Iraq's weapons program has been sketchy since it expelled U.N. weapons inspectors in 1998. The country has also retained the scientific and engineering expertise for its weapons programs. The Iraqi military has used chemical weapons against Iran and Kurds in northern Iraq. A document found by U.N. inspectors but seized by Iraqi officials suggested Saddam may have hidden an additional 6,000 weapons after the Gulf War. In addition, Iraq acknowledged in 1995 that it had produced 7,800 gallons of biological agents, including anthrax, botulism toxins and aflatoxins. However, U.N. weapons inspectors said Iraq likely had produced three to four times more. Iraq also said it had deployed munitions filled with biological agents to airfields to be used against Israel and coalition forces in Saudi Arabia, the report says. It claimed all these weapons had been destroyed. To attack with these chemical and biological weapons, Iraq has short-range ballistic missile warheads and aerial bombs. It has been working on a pilotless drone, as well. Saddam's government has said it disarmed, and it closed the country to U.N. weapons inspectors in late 1998. The United States responded with several days of airstrikes. haaretzdaily.com