From: Barry Stoller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [L-I] WWIII update - Rumsfeld threatens Iraq BBC. 28 October 2001. Rumsfeld: Iraq may be target. US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says he cannot rule out military action against Iraq in the US-led war on terrorism. He was speaking after the Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister, Tariq Aziz, said he believed the US planned to attack 300 Iraqi targets with 1,000 missiles. Mr Rumsfeld, also interviewed by ABC, said: "There is no question but that Iraq is a state that has committed terrorist acts and has sponsored terrorist acts." He said that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was a threat to other countries including the US and that many people -- in and out of government -- wished he were not there, adding: "And certainly, I'm one of them." Last Wednesday, US Secretary of State Colin Powell and Jack Straw said Iraq could become a target if evidence was found linking it to specific acts of terrorism. Asked if the US planned to target the Iraqi leader in the next phase of its war on terror, Mr Rumsfeld said that President George Bush had said the fight was against all terrorist networks. "There are many more than just al-Qaeda," he said. "They are in many more countries beyond Afghanistan. It is something that we as a country and the many countries assisting us are currently doing." In a rare interview with a western newspaper, Mr Aziz told the Sunday Telegraph that an attack on Iraq would inflame Arab opinion and cause the US-led coalition to fall apart. Mr Aziz said the war on terrorism would only be a pretext, since Iraq had nothing to do with the events of 11 September or the anthrax attacks in the US. What Washington really wanted, he said, was to crush an independent nation that will not bow to Western pressure. BBC correspondent Stephen Cviic says there is no doubt some US officials would like to make Iraq a target in the war on terrorism. Their main objective would be to depose President Saddam Hussein. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews with continuing coverage of WWIII _______________________________________________ Leninist-International mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international
