Two senior members of the Iraqi parliament dismissed Tuesday as "full of lies" President Bush's speech in which he said the threat of an attack by Iraq with weapons of mass destruction was growing.
"Your speech Bush is full of lies and full of unreasonable argument," Abdul Aziz Kailani, the head of the religious affairs committee in the parliament, told Reuters.
"You (Bush) are just like a beast which wants to eat small countries and while you should help them you want to destroy them," Kailani said. "I want to ask Mr. Bush a question: how far is the U.S.A. from Iraq? It is very far from here ... (there is) a big ocean, large countries between us, so how come we pose a threat to America?"
Another Iraqi parliamentarian denied Baghdad possessed any weapons of mass destruction, saying Washington was using that as an excuse to attack Iraq. "We have no weapons of mass destruction and the whole world knows that but Bush wants to impose his hegemony on the world and subject Iraq to his rule," said Abdul Aziz Shwaish, head of the finance, trade and planning committee.
Bush Speech
US President George W. Bush, warning that Iraq could equip terrorists with chemical or biological weapons on "any given day," demanded that Baghdad disarm or face US-led military action.
Bush warned that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein threatens the United States and its allies and that the danger "only grows worse with time." "The time for denying, deceiving and delaying has come to an end. Saddam Hussein must disarm himself -- or, for the sake of peace, we will lead a coalition to disarm him," the US leader said.
"Iraq could decide on any given day to provide a biological or chemical weapon to a terrorist group or individual terrorists," Bush said.
Iraq may be exploring ways of using a "growing fleet" of unmanned aerial vehicles to attack the United States with such weapons of mass destruction, a threat made more vivid by the September 11, 2001 attacks, aired Bush.
The US president warned that Saddam was relying on scientists he has dubbed "nuclear holy warriors" to develop an atomic weapon. "If we allow that to happen, a terrible line would be crossed," Bush said in his speech.
Bush said Saddam could be within a year of developing a nuclear weapon, and he declared, "Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof — the smoking gun — that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud."
"Saddam Hussein would be in a position to blackmail anyone who opposes his aggression. He would be in a position to dominate the Middle East. He would be in a position to threaten America. And Saddam Hussein would be in a position to pass nuclear technology to terrorists."
"While there are many dangers in the world, the threat from Iraq stands alone because it gathers the most serious dangers of our age in one place," Bush said. "Iraq's weapons of mass destruction are controlled by a murderous tyrant, who has already used chemical weapons to kill thousand of people."
"I am not willing to stake one American life on trusting Saddam Hussein," the president said. He also said Iraq had trained members of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda group, and that a "very senior al-Qaida leader" had received medical treatment in Baghdad.
"Alliances with terrorists could allow the Iraqi regime to attack America without leaving any fingerprints," he said.
Bush warned Iraqi generals they could face war crimes prosecution if they follow any "cruel and desperate" orders from their leader in the face of US attacks. "If Saddam Hussein orders such measures, his generals would be well advised to refuse," said Bush. "If they do not refuse, they must understand that all war criminals will be pursued and punished."
In addition to declaring and destroying all of its weapons of mass destruction, and ending support for terrorism, Iraq must cease persecuting civilians and stop all efforts to skirt UN economic sanctions, he said.
The president also called on Iraq to account for all Gulf War soldiers, including a US pilot, who are still missing. "By taking these steps and only by taking these steps, the Iraqi regime has an opportunity to avoid conflict."
Wooing US lawmakers wary of signing on to a resolution giving him far-reaching authority to wage war on Iraq, Bush insisted that approving the measure "does not mean that military action is imminent or unavoidable."
Instead, "the resolution will tell the United Nations, and all nations, that America speaks with one voice and it is determined to make the demands of the civilized world mean something," he said.
"If we have to act, we will take every precaution that is possible. We will plan carefully. We will act with the full power of the United States military. We will act with allies at our side and we will prevail," Bush stated.
In the event of military action, Washington and its allies will help rebuild Iraq's economy and make a transition to democracy, he said.
Russia
On Tuesday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov said Moscow's position on Iraq corresponded to that of France and rejected U.S. draft proposals saying they contained "knowingly unfulfillable demands."
The French proposal provides for a two-tier approach to solving the Iraq crisis, giving Baghdad a chance to cooperate with U.N. arms inspections, with the use of force then becoming an option in a second U.N. resolution if Iraq does not comply.
Fedotov was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying the French proposal "in its present form corresponds to our position." (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
