Posted on 02/07/2003 8:56:12 PM PST by Clive
"Saddam Hussein recently authorized Iraqi field commanders to use chemical weapons, the very weapons the dictator tells the world he does not have.
"The game is over. Saddam Hussein will be stopped."
With those blunt words, U.S. President George W. Bush yesterday told Saddam and the world that the game is really up.
Saddam must immediately produce all his weapons of mass destruction - chemical, biological and nuclear - or a U.S.-led coalition of "the willing" will do it for him. And Bush has indicated that will be done with the approval of the UN Security Council - or, failing that, without such timorous council members as France and Germany.
Hey, and even despite the continuing dithering of Canada's Chretien Liberal regime.
As Bush warned such hesitant nations:
"The Security Council must not back down when those demands are defied and mocked by a dictator."
And if the UN does fail, "The United States, along with a growing coalition of nations, is resolved to take whatever action is necessary to defend ourselves and disarm the Iraqi regime," he said.
But, make no mistake, the damning news yesterday was the American president's revelation that Saddam recently had actually authorized his commanders to use chemical weapons when war erupts.
In other words, such information puts the lie to everything Saddam and his gang have repeatedly claimed about not having any such weapons.
"Saddam Hussein was given a final chance, he is throwing that chance away. The dictator of Iraq is making his choice," said Bush.
Of course, it reinforces the long list of evidence concerning such weapons delivered to the Security Council in graphic form Wednesday by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Only the most stubborn defier of the truth or Saddam himself would stick to a denial that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction after that presentation. Powell used photos and spy-type voice recordings to show that the Iraqi gang has been persistently hiding all evidence of such weapons - despite a UN Security Council resolution that requires complete co-operation.
After the presentation, former CIA director James Woolsey put it in perspective:
"I think when you take them all (the list of evidence) together, the only people who now don't believe that Iraq has at least chemical and bacteriological weapons would be either people who work for Saddam or human versions of ostriches."
But, as Middle East specialist Anthony Cordesman observed: "In the UN, it is easy to preach to the converted, it is hard to convert the opposition, and people who don't want to really face these facts are not going to face them, at least initially."
Of course, the other major revelation in Powell's evidence was information that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, an associate of Osama bin Laden and his al- Qaida terrorist network, has been given safe haven and allowed to set up operational training in Iraq for attacks on European and other nations.
So the fat is in the fire.
The U.S., Britain and Australia are busily assembling a huge force of naval, air and land power in the Gulf area. Each day it grows and will be 200,000 troops strong by Feb. 14.
FOOT-DRAGGING
That's the day the UN's top arms inspectors are scheduled to present what should be their final report to the Security Council. Hopefully, the foot-dragging nations will climb aboard the U.S.-led coalition to take out Saddam and his continuing real threat. If past performances are any indication, most won't want to be left behind, including the Chretienites.
In fact, Bush is obviously so confident the war will be fought and over with fairly quickly, that he has accepted an invitation to make a state visit to Canada in May. If he's ready to do that, he probably feels Chretien will finally stop his dithering and pledge some military support, no matter how small.
On Monday, I watched the entire 78-minute presentation by Powell at an east end Toronto restaurant. Sitting near me were four workmen who were taking a break.
I was slightly amazed when all four stayed seated through the whole thing, their attention riveted to the TV. At the end, they left, but not before the guy sitting next to me declared: "George Bush is going to go get that Saddam and his bunch. It's about time and we should back him."
Fast forward a few months(weeks?) down the road......a victorious and vindicated USA in Iraq unearthing Saddams secrets for all to see. I just don't think the Liberals could survive such a scenerio, and after missing the bus for this war....they probably have a real chance of losing the next election. On the other hand.....there's the motivation for the Libs to buck up and offer support.
Living on the Canadian border, I can assure you that's true. The English Ontarians are just as practical and action-oriented as any "right-thinking" American.
Canada, however, (and this includes my dear Canadian friends) has succumbed to the siren song of public welfare and this seems to triumph over hard-headed reality when it comes to electing a federal government.
National Health Care trumps everything, I'm sad to say. The Canadians I know root for us to take out Saddam, but are terrified at the thought of paying for health insurance (even though, I point out, they already do).
Go figure.
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