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Politics : Did Slick Boink Monica? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: WalleyB who wrote (7464)	2/17/1998 6:34:00 PM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 20981

Clinton urges Americans to be ready United Press International - February 17, 1998 15:21 %WASHINGTON %IRAQ %US V%UPI P%UPI ARLINGTON, Va., Feb. 17 (UPI) - President Clinton called on Americans both military and civilian to be prepared for combat with Iraq, warning any retreat would pose an unacceptable threat to world security. After meeting at the Pentagon with the nation's top military leadership, Clinton said Iraqi President Saddam Hussein ''threatens the safety of his people, the stability of his region and the security of all the rest of us.'' Opening a week in which the administration has promised to explain to Americans its plans to attack Iraq if it does not comply with U.N. weapons inspectors, Clinton cited a laundry list of violations since Iraq promised in 1991 to fully declare its nuclear, chemical and biological weapons systems. He said the hidden Iraqi arsenal included nearly 40,000 chemical weapons, more than 100,000 gallons of chemical weapons agents, 48 operational missiles, a massive biological weapons facility equipped to produce anthrax and other deadly agents, and 30 delivery warheads. Clinton said, ''Instead of playing by the very rules he agreed to at the end of the Gulf War, (Iraqi President) Saddam (Hussein) has spent the better part of the past decade trying to cheat on this solemn commitment.'' The president conceded the threatened heavy U.S. air bombardment of Iraq would not be fully successful, saying: ''A military operation cannot destroy all the weapons of mass destruction capacity. ''But it can, and will, leave him significantly worse off than he is now in terms of the ability to threaten the world with these weapons or to attack his neighbors. And he will know that the international community continues to have the will to act if and when he threatens again.'' Addressing an auditorium packed with uniformed officers and soldiers, Clinton said: ''As all of you know, the weightiest decision any president ever has to make is to send our troops into harm's way. And force can never be the first answer. But sometimes it's the only answer. '' Clinton rejected Iraq's attempts to designate large areas as sensitive ''presidential sites'' that should be off-limits to foreigners as merely ''yet another gambit to thwart'' U.N. weapons inspectors. He noted one such Baghdad palace covers more than 2,600 acres, adding, ''We're not talking about a few rooms here with delicate personal matters involved.'' Although such key allies as France and Russia have strongly opposed his threatened use of military force, Clinton listed countries that have voiced varying degrees of support, including Britain, Germany, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Turkey, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, the Netherlands, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Argentina, Australia and New Zealand. Clinton said, ''That list is growing, not because anyone wants military action, but because there are people in this world who believe the United Nations resolutions should mean something.'' -- Copyright 1998 by United Press International. All rights reserved. --