What's Next? War
Against France, North Korea?
by Firas Al-Atraqchi
Dissident Voice
February 13, 2003
They've pretty
much tried it all: blaming Saddam for anthrax, West Nile Virus, 9-11, and ties to
terrorists. They showed us cartoons of roving sci-fi labs in Iraq's hyperspace
(because, apparently, no one has seen the mobile labs let alone provide proof
they exist), movies of Saddam being kissed on the armpits (sure, that's a good
reason to launch a hygienic war), and played audio of two incompetent Iraqis
who just sit their saying "yes, yes" over and over again.
"Yes,"
even U.S. Secretary of State Powell's excitement that the "new" Osama
bin Laden audio tape links Saddam to bin Laden fizzled when the latter called
Saddam irrelevant and an "infidel of Islam."
So
what wag the dog scenario are we to see in the next few days and weeks? One
would think the poor dog is fatigued (you would be too if you were told to
shake your tail to every song and dance) and has opted for early retirement. Oh
wait, where did all the social security go?
However
comic the above may sound (and lamentably true), the Bush administration has
not run out of steam in its endless drive to invade Iraq.
Wednesday's
edition of the Washington Post reports that U.S. National Security Adviser
Condi Rice is exerting maximum effort to coerce UNMOVIC head Hans Blix to
declare in Friday's U.N. Security Council report that Iraq is in violation and
material breach.
"National
security adviser Condoleezza Rice flew to New York this morning [Tuesday] to
press chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix to acknowledge in a Security
Council briefing Friday that Iraq has failed to voluntarily scrap its
prohibited chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs, according to U.S.
and U.N. diplomats," the Washington Post says.
The
Washington Post article goes on to say, "Rice's unannounced meeting with
Blix underscored the Bush administration's concern that the Swedish diplomat's
report to the council on Friday, while critical of Iraq, may not be decisive
enough to persuade wavering Security Council members to support an immediate
move to war."
Rice's
efforts come on the heels of Blix and IAEA head Mohammed Al-Baradei's
announcement on Monday that they had seen "the beginning of a serious
effort on the part of the Iraqis, a beginning of a change of heart"
concerning cooperation with the inspections teams. U.S. officials blasted the
change of heart outright and claimed that Saddam was fooling the world.
Nevertheless,
France, Germany, Belgium, Russia, and now China, have been strengthened by the
inspectors' reports and have converged on a united front to prevent the U.S.
from pushing through a new resolution legalizing an invasion of Iraq. In recent
days, on a visit to Paris, Putin signaled that hey may join France in vetoing
any such resolution. In the meantime, France, Germany and Belgium are trying to
present an alternative, peaceful mechanism to disarming Iraq, while also
blocking NATO military aid to Turkey.
France's
position has so irked U.S. officials that some are considering sanctions, or
other punitive measures against European nations who do not latch on to the
Bush doctrine.
According
to Washington Post writer Jim VandeHei, "U.S. lawmakers, angry over
France's and Germany's opposition to the administration's Iraq policies, are
considering retaliatory gestures such as trade sanctions against the French and
pressing for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Germany."
Germany
is also on the receiving end of "punitive measures."
Germany
announced today that the purported bin Laden audio message makes no link
between Saddam and al-Qaeda terrorists. In return, VandeHei says "There is
also growing momentum on Capitol Hill to move many of the 71,455 U.S. troops
from Germany. Marine Gen. James Jones, the U.S. commander in Europe, recently
briefed lawmakers on an emerging plan to radically change the U.S. military
presence in Europe, in great part by moving troops out of Germany."
Far
from the European focus, the IAEA today decided to refer North Korea's nuclear
intransigence to the Security Council for discussion. At a U.S. Congressional
hearing, CIA director George Tenet admitted that unclassified material
indicates that North Korea has one or two plutonium devices that are capable of
hitting the western coast of the continental United States.
This
marks the first time such a senior U.S. official has admitted that the U.S. is
under threat from a possible North Korean attack. North Korea also announced
that any sanctions slapped on the Marxist nation would be considered a
declaration of war.
Nevertheless,
the Bush administration has decided to ignore the North Korean and al-Qaeda
threat and focus on Iraq instead.
Firas Al-Atraqchi, B.Sc (Physics), M.A. (Journalism and
Communications), is a Canadian journalist with eleven years of experience
covering Middle East issues, oil and gas markets, and the telecom industry. He
is a columnist for YellowTimes.org He
can be reached at: firas6544@rogers.com