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Politics : The Donkey's Inn -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mephisto who wrote (2804)	2/13/2002 9:51:55 PM
From: Mephisto	Respond to of 15516

Bush Keeps Iraq Options Open, but Secret By David Storey WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites), speaking as his administration considered ways to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites), said on Wednesday he reserved all his options to act but he would not disclose them at this time. ``I will reserve whatever options I have. I'll keep them close to my vest. Saddam Hussein needs to understand that I'm serious about defending our country,'' Bush said during a news conference with Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf. Bush has named Iraq, Iran and North Korea (news - web sites) as members of an ''axis of evil'' developing weapons of mass destruction and backing international terrorism. He said he would take action against them if they threatened the United States. ``I think one of the worst things that could happen in the world is terrorist organizations mating up with nations which have had a bad history and nations which develop weapons of mass destruction,'' he said. ``Make no mistake about it, if we need to, we will take necessary action to defend the American people,'' he said. Citing unnamed officials and sources, ABC News reported Bush has ordered the State Department, Pentagon (news - web sites) and CIA (news - web sites) to finalize plans for a move against Saddam. ABC said it was told that the CIA was spending money trying to encourage insurrection from within Iraq and that the goal was to have locals do much of the fighting. A CIA spokesman said the agency had no comment on the report. ABC also reported that under the plan being considered, special operations troops would join Iraqi opposition inside the country, followed by U.S. airstrikes. If these methods do not succeed in ousting the Iraqi leader, a large conventional U.S. ground force would move in, the network reported. ABC quoted sources as saying that the current war plan, which is now being revised, calls for half a million troops, at least 1,000 aircraft and six aircraft carriers. Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) said on Tuesday the Bush administration would first try diplomatic and political means to eliminate any threat from these countries and said there was no military plan at this stage for action against Saddam. The president is sending Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) to the Middle East next month to tell U.S. allies Washington ``means business'' in its approach to Iraq. He will go to 11 nations, including Iraq's neighbors Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey and Kuwait. Administration officials have said in interviews with several U.S. newspapers in recent days that Bush is determined to oust Saddam, who remained in power despite his country's defeat by a U.S.-led coalition in the 1991 Gulf War (news - web sites). Speculation has risen that Iraq could become the next state targeted after Afghanistan (news - web sites) in the U.S.-led war on terrorism. dailynews.yahoo.com