WASHINGTON, May 29: The US decision to focus on Iraqi disarmament as the motive for invasion was made for “bureaucratic reasons”, Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said in an interview published on Wednesday.
Mr Wolfowitz admitted to the magazine, Vanity Fair, that the weapons of mass destruction issue was never the United States’ prime reason for invading Iraq.
“For bureaucratic reasons, we settled on one issue, weapons of mass destruction, because it was the one reason everyone could agree on,” Wolfowitz said in the interview.
Another reason for the invasion, which slipped by “almost unnoticed, but huge” was that the attack would allow a withdrawal of US troops from Saudi Arabia.
The presence of US troops there has been one of the main bones of contention for the Al Qaeda network, the official said.
“Just lifting that burden from the Saudis is itself going to open the door” to a more peaceful Middle East, Mr Wolfowitz said.
Seven weeks after the invasion ended, no weapons of mass destruction have been found, nor evidence linking the Saddam government with Al Qaeda — two of the main reasons given publicly by Washington and London for invading Iraq.
Wolfowitz’s comments illustrate the desire of US President George Bush and his administration to play down the issue of weapons of mass destruction — while nonetheless insisting that finding those weapons in Iraq is still a priority.
On Tuesday, US Defence Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld said it was possible the Iraqis may have decided to destroy any such weapons before the conflict started.
US STRATEGY IN ASIA: Paul Wolfowitz left Washington on Thursday on a five-day trip to Singapore, South Korea and Japan to discuss US strategy and military presence with leaders in the key region.
Mr Wolfowitz’s aircraft took off from Andrews Air Force Base for Singapore, where he will attend a conference of Asian security and defence officials sponsored by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
On Saturday he will speak to the conference on evolving American strategy in the Asia-Pacific in Washington’s declared war on terrorism before going to Seoul and Tokyo. He will return to Washington on Monday.
Mr Wolfowitz will meet senior government officials in all three countries, and Pentagon officials said that growing tension in the region over North Korea’s nuclear ambitions would be a major issue on the agenda.
The secretary is expected to hear questions on the Pentagon’s recently announced study of likely shifts in US military posture in Asia and elsewhere around the globe after the war in Iraq. Such moves would be aimed at addressing both the threat from both guerrilla groups and competition with China for power and influence in Asia.
US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has announced that the Pentagon is studying — in close consultation with Seoul — the possible future removal of some of the 37,000 American troops stationed in South Korea.
That and other potential regional shifts in US presence would be based on a growing ability to more quickly send mobile American forces to the region from home bases in the United States.
The Los Angeles Times reported on Thursday that the United States was considering the possible removal of thousands of US Marines from Okinawa and perhaps establishing a military presence in Singapore and Malaysia. The report said the US military also might seek access by its warships to Vietnam.
POWELL: US Secretary of State Colin Powell will visit Pope John Paul next week in Vatican City, but is not seeking the pontiff’s approval for the Iraq invasion, which he fervently opposed, US officials said on Thursday.
“I would not characterize any of our meetings with the Vatican in religious terms,” State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said when asked whether Powell would be seeking the pope’s “absolution” for the conflict.
The department has said that Powell will break off from US President George W. Bush’s trip to France to attend the G8 summit on Sunday and travel to Rome for talks with Italian officials before rejoining the president in the Middle East.—Agencies
