Gallup Poll, Saddam, and other matters. (no US bashing!)

[BeardofPants]

From News Services

Published Aug 9, 2002
IRAQ09

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein warned Thursday that any forces that attacked his country would be "digging their own graves." His speech was dismissed by the Bush administration and viewed with pessimism by the U.N. secretary-general.

"The forces of evil will carry their coffins on their backs, die in disgraceful failure, taking their schemes back with them, or digging their own graves," he said in a national address on the anniversary of the end of the 1980-1988 war with Iran.

The Iraqi leader's televised address -- an appeal to audiences both at home and abroad -- was his first public response to the recent growing threat of military confrontation with the United States.

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.

Despite ongoing negotiations with the United Nations over the experts' return, Saddam's 22-minute speech made no reference to them. Instead, the Iraqi leader called for the U.N. Security Council to answer a list of 19 questions.

Iraq submitted the questions to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi 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.

The Iraqi leader also repeated his call for the U.N. "to honor its obligations" to lift sanctions. They were imposed after Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, eventually touching off the 1991 Gulf War.

Annan, who has met with Iraqi officials three times since March, said Thursday that the Iraqi government hadn't given "an inch" toward meeting U.N. demands for the return of the inspectors. "I don't see any change in attitude," he said.

There have been no inspectors in Iraq since 1998 when, complaining of a lack of cooperation from the Iraqis, U.N. inspectors left just ahead of allied airstrikes to punish Iraq for blocking inspections.

Iraq maintains that it has fulfilled U.N. conditions.

The Iraqi leader did not mention any country by name in his speech, but the Bush administration said that his comments were obviously directed toward the United States.

The administration dismissed the speech as insignificant, with State Department spokesman Philip Reeker calling it "bluster from an internationally isolated dictator, demonstrative yet again that his regime shows no intention to live up to its obligations under U.N. Security Council resolutions."

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the speech did not alter President Bush's view of Iraq. "The Iraqi government needs to comply with the responsibilities it agreed to at the end of the Gulf War," McClellan told reporters covering Bush's stay in Crawford, Texas.

"The president has not decided on a particular course of action," he said, referring to widely reported plans by the United States to remove Saddam from power. "We will consult with our friends and allies, as well as Congress, as we move forward."

One prominent congressional Republican struck a cautionary note Thursday. House Majority Leader Dick Armey said the United States should not attack Iraq without provocation.

Bush has left little doubt that he would like to oust Saddam, but he has not decided what to do. Support in Congress is mixed, and Armey said that an unprovoked attack against Iraq would isolate the United States.

"If we try to act against Saddam Hussein, as obnoxious as he is, without proper provocation, we will not have the support of other nation states who might do so," Armey, R-Texas, said while campaigning in Iowa for the state's GOP congressional candidates.

Armey said he did not consider the Iraqi leader's refusal to allow weapons inspections sufficient reason to attack. The Gulf War was a different story, he said, because Saddam had moved beyond his own borders.

Opinion poll

Two-thirds of Americans want Congress to play a role in any decision about military action against Iraq, says a new CBS News poll, although they agree with an eventual attack on Iraq.

About the same number of the poll's respondents said they believe the United States needs to wait to build support with its allies before acting against Iraq. People were about evenly split on the question of whether removing Saddam is worth the potential loss of life and other costs.

The poll of 832 adults was taken Tuesday and Wednesday and has margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

The poll also found that:

• Republicans thought Bush should get congressional approval by a 60-38 margin, Democrats felt that way by a 76-22 margin and independents by a 74-24 margin.

• Republicans felt by a 62-31 margin that Bush should wait to build support with U.S. allies before attacking Iraq, Democrats felt that way by a 67-23 margin and independents by a 72-20 margin.

• Republicans said by a 64-26 margin that the removal of Saddam was worth the cost, Democrats said by a 52-37 margin that it was not worth it, and independents were split on the question.

I'd be quite interested to hear some thoughts regarding this poll, and the surrounding events. What do you think are the Bush Administrations reasons for a potential attack on Iraq/Hussein? Would US might succeed against guerilla warfare, or would this be another vietnam? Are there other options? etc, etc. Please, don't try and drag this down into a US (or otherwise) bashing thread; I am interested to see what some of the US 'mooters (and others) have to say regarding this affair, NOT in causing another negative thread.

Mods, feel free to close it, if it gets heated. Thanks.