Iraq<P>
@AP credit:Associated Press
@Body copy:BAGHDAD, Iraq Ñ Ever defiant, Saddam
Hussein organized a big military parade Thursday and
then warned ÔÔthe forces of evil'' not to attack Iraq
as he sought once more to shift the debate away from
world demands that he live up to agreements that
ended the Gulf War.
The Bush administration has threatened to use
military force to oust Saddam, who has barred U.N.
weapons inspectors from returning to the country.
Iraq remains under tight U.N. sanctions until
inspectors certify Saddam no longer has chemical,
nuclear or biological weapons or the missiles to
deliver them.
The sanctions were imposed after Iraq invaded Kuwait
in 1990, eventually touching off the 1991 war.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Thursday that
the Iraqi government hadn't given ÔÔan inch'' toward
meeting U.N. demands for the return of the
inspectors. ÔÔI don't see any change in attitude,''
he said.
In a televised speech on the anniversary of the end
of the 1980-88 Iraq-Iran war, Saddam said ÔÔthe
forces of evil'' Ñ a reference to the United States
and its chief ally, Britain Ñ will ÔÔdie in
disgraceful failure'' if they attack Iraq.
Saddam said the real issue was not Iraqi behavior but
the U.N. Security Council's refusal to respond to his
questions about the inspections.
<P>ÔÔThe right way is that the Security Council
should reply to the questions raised by Iraq and
should honor its obligations under its own
resolutions,'' Saddam said, dressed in a dark gray
suit and sitting in front of a desk adorned with
white lilies. ÔÔThere is no other choice for those
who use threat and aggression.''
Iraq submitted 19 questions to Annan in March when
talks began on the possible return of inspectors. The
talks have since collapsed, and the Security Council,
where the United States holds veto power, has issued
no response.
Earlier Thursday, about 15,000 members of Saddam's
Jerusalem Army marched through Baghdad in a 90-minute
display of support for the president. Dressed in
khaki uniforms and armed with Kalashnikov rifles, the
marchers carried photographs of Saddam and placards
with slogans such as ÔÔLong live Saddam!'' and ÔÔDown
with U.S.A!''
In the past week, as rhetoric has heated up on all
sides of the Iraq issue, Saddam has organized several
demonstrations by the Jerusalem Army, a force of men,
women and children that he set up in 2000 to drive
the Israelis out of Jerusalem. Since it was
established, the army has mainly trained and marched
in Baghdad.
A White House spokesman, Scott McClellan, said
Saddam's speech did not alter President Bush's view
of Iraq in the slightest. ÔÔThe Iraqi government
needs to comply with the responsibilities it agreed
to at the end of the Gulf War,'' he told reporters.
Iraq's strategy is to avoid war with the United
States by strengthening ties with its neighbors and
appearing open to some level of international
weapons' inspections, said a U.S. intelligence
official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
If war comes, Iraq's best option is to try to force
the United States to fight it in the cities, the
official said. Saddam knows that the high civilian
<P>casualties caused by urban combat is distasteful
to the Americans and their European allies. Urban
warfare also limits the utility of precision air
strikes, as U.S. bombers try to avoid collateral
damage to civilian buildings.
While the United States says it has reached no
decision on attacking Iraq, Washington has nearly
10,000 troops in Kuwait and heavy equipment and
warplanes at bases in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates
and Oman. There is substantial U.S. naval and air
power on aircraft carriers in the Red Sea and Persian
Gulf.
Despite Washington's argument that Saddam is a danger
to everyone, most U.S. allies, both in Europe and the
Arab world, are cool to launching an attack on Iraq.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud on Wednesday said
the United States would not have access to Saudi
facilities for an attack and affirmed the kingdom's
opposition to an incursion.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has warned that a
U.S. attack could wreck the international coalition
against terrorism and throw the Middle East into
turmoil. Even British Prime Minister Tony Blair,
considered Washington's strongest ally, faces strong
domestic opposition to a move against Iraq.
Wednesday, Vice President Cheney said that if Saddam
is not stopped, ÔÔit's the judgment of many of us
that, in the not too distant future, he will acquire
nuclear weapons.''
Cheney said he was skeptical the return of U.N.
inspectors, whom Iraq has refused access since 1998,
would solve the problem of Iraq's weapons of mass
destruction.
There have been no inspectors in Iraq since 1998
when, complaining of lack of cooperation from the
Iraqis, U.N. inspectors left just ahead of allied
airstrikes to punish Iraq for blocking inspections.
Iraq maintains it has fulfilled U.N. conditions and
that the sanctions should be lifted.
<PB>AP-ES-08-08-02 1746EDT
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