WASHINGTON, Aug 10: US House Majority Leader Dick Armey on Friday warned against an unprovoked US attack on Iraq.
Referring to President Saddam Hussein, Armey said, “My own view would be to let him bluster, let him rant and rave all he wants and let that be a matter between he and his own country.
“As long as he behaves himself within his own borders, we should not be addressing any attack or resources against him.
US President George W. Bush, in Crawford, Texas, on a four-week vacation, on Saturday described Iraq as an “enemy until proven otherwise” but said he had no timetable for deciding whether to use military force to topple Saddam Hussein.
“I described them as the ‘axis of evil’ once. I describe them as an enemy until proven otherwise,” Bush told reporters after teeing off at the Ridgewood Country Club Golf Course.
The president sought to play down expectations of any imminent attack on Iraq.
Asked if Americans were prepared for casualties in a war with Iraq, Bush — whose stated policy is to seek Saddam’s ouster — replied: “That presumes there is some kind of imminent war plan. As I have said, I have no timetable.
“But I do believe what the American people understand is that weapons of mass destruction in the hands of leaders such as Saddam Hussein are very dangerous for ourselves,” he said. “They understand the concept of blackmail.
“They know that when we speak of making the world more safe we do so not only in the context of al Qaeda and other terrorist groups but nations that have proved themselves to be bad neighbors and bad actors,” he added.
Bush launched the US war on terrorism after the Sept. 11 attacks by toppling the Taliban regime in Afghanistan that Washington accused of harboring the al Qaeda network that it blames for the attacks against the United States. There has been considerable speculation Iraq may be his next target.
Under increasing pressure from some members of Congress and many foreign allies not to launch an unprovoked attack on the longtime Gulf foe, Bush said he was consulting with the US legislature and foreign governments.
“I have no timetable for any of our policies with regards to Iraq,” he said, saying “the consultation process is a positive part of really allowing people to fully understand our deep concerns about this man and his regime and his desires to have weapons of mass destruction.”
Asked if he was surprised he had not built more support for action against Saddam, Bush said: “Most people understand he is a danger, but as I have said in speech after speech I have a lot of tools at my disposal. I have also said I am a deliberate person.”
In his State of the Union speech at the start of the year Bush described Iraq, Iran and North Korea as an “axis of evil” seeking weapons of mass destruction. In a June 1 speech at the US military academy at West Point, Bush outlined a new US policy of preemptive strikes against emerging threats.
Against a backdrop of Iraq’s consistent refusal to readmit international weapons inspectors, Bush told reporters on Saturday: “They obviously desire weapons of mass destruction. I presume that he still views us as an enemy.”
WHEAT DEALS: Iraq threatened at the weekend to cancel all wheat imports from Australia in retaliation for Canberra’s backing of possible US-led military action against Baghdad.
Iraq’s top representative in Australia, Saad al-Samarai, told the Weeekend Australian newspaper that contracts worth up to 829 million dollars (430 million US) per year could be cut if Australia maintained its “hostile” position.
“We are astonished as to why this non-friendly position has been taken by the Australian government,” Samarai, Iraq’s charge d’affaires, said in the interview published Saturday.
Iraq already cancelled an order for 500,000 tonnes of Australian wheat last month after comments by conservative Australian Prime Miniister John Howard, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and others strongly supporting a tough US stance against the regime of President Saddam.—Reuters/AFP