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Politics : America Under Siege: The End of Innocence -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: David in Ontario who wrote (22017)	3/18/2003 10:56:05 PM
From: David in Ontario	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 27666

Saddam issues chemical weapon order, claims US smh.com.au March 19 2003, 11:25 AM Iraq's field-level commanders have been given authority to use chemical weapons on their own initiative in a US led war to topple Saddam Hussein, Pentagon officials said today. But chief UN arms inspector Hans Blix said today that if Iraq had chemical or biological weapons, it would probably refrain from using them against attacking US troops. Intelligence reports indicated Saddam has given them authority to use such weapons without any further directives from the Iraqi leadership, Pentagon officials said. "We continue to receive reports supporting the assertion that there is a high risk the Iraqi regime would use chemical weapons at some point during any conflict," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said today. It was the first explicit statement from the US Defence Department discussing the chemical weapons risk. President George W Bush and other US officials say Iraq's stocks of chemical weapons include the deadly nerve agents sarin, cyclosarin and VX and a mustard agent like that first used in World War I. Saddam has repeatedly denied having chemical or biological weapons, though Iraq has acknowledged developing both before the 1991 Persian Gulf War. US officials say they believe Iraq's chemical weapons are under the control of the Republican Guard, Saddam's best trained and most loyal troops. A large part of those forces are concentrated in and around Baghdad, where US officials are concerned that fighting involving chemical weapons could kill many Iraqi civilians. Most of Iraq's chemical arsenal, officials say, is in artillery shells and rockets that have a range of about 20 km or less. Pentagon officials said it was unclear what rank of Iraqi officers had been given the authority to order chemical weapons use. Coalition troops awaiting invasion orders have chemical protection gear and equipment that can detect clouds of chemical agents up to five km away. American tanks and armoured vehicles have filters designed to keep the troops inside safe from the deadly agents. Anticipating the possibility of chemical combat, US troops have trained extensively on operating in a contaminated environment. Blix told a news conference that Iraq was "capable of building warheads" to carry toxins, but it was an open question whether it had the weapons. The main constraint was not technical but political, Blix said. "World public opinion, which they study quite a lot, is feeling in large measure that going to war is too early. "That scepticism would turn immediately around if they used chemical or biological weapons," he said. US President George W Bush warned the Iraqi forces in a televised speech late yesterday not to obey any command to use weapons of mass destruction. "War crimes will be prosecuted, war criminals will be punished," Bush said. It would be no defence for an Iraqi soldier to say he was following orders. Asked if he expected the Iraqis to use chemical or biological weapons, Blix replied: "The first question is, do they have them?" He noted that the Iraqis had never used biological weapons on the battlefield although they had used chemical weapons. "We have not seen delivery means, but they are capable of building the delivery means," he said. "If the weapons are there - and I am not saying they are - and if they have the delivery systems - and I am not saying they do - they would be capable of using them," Blix said. Bush had urge the Iraqi military not to "fight for a dying regime". Asked what would restrain a doomed regime, Blix replied: "Some people care about their reputation even after death." AP and AFP

To: David in Ontario who wrote (22017)	3/19/2003 12:07:02 PM
From: Investor Clouseau	Respond to of 27666

Chirac described U.S. President George W. Bush's ultimatum "a very serious decision, in the light of the Iraqi moves towards disarmament and while the inspections were proving to be a credible alternative to disarm the country." Saddam NEVER had any intention to give up his weapons. He was given EVERY opportunity to do so, and still didn't. Perhaps France isn't going to be as hypocritical as it first appeared. Bastille Day is the French Independence day, and celebrates the liberation of oppressed citizens from their unjust tyrant. The Iraqi people DESERVE the same thing. IC