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Posted on 09/28/2001 1:58:20 AM PDT by JohnHuang2

The United States is in "international isolation" and Americans "feel insecure," because the U.S. has "caused insecurity to many peoples around the world," according to a high Iraqi official.

Americans "have used the law of force in dealing with the world for the last 50 years," according to the Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri, and the U.S. needs "honest advice" so that America can "think over what happened" on Sept. 11 and engage in a "profound reassessment" of U.S. foreign policy.

The remarks were monitored from a shortwave transmission from the World Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation.

While Sabri was generous with his criticism of the U.S., he could not answer directly whether Iraqi intelligence had been in contact with terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden. Iraq denies any involvement in the Sept. 11 attacks or with "the groups which have been accused of doing what happened."

Regarding contacts with bin Laden, Sabri only stated that "Iraq does not need to contact anybody. … We are not hiding our defense of our population. … We do not need to go to covert action, because we are doing it overtly."

Many observers are highly skeptical about both Iraq's truthfulness concerning its involvement in the New York and Pentagon attacks and the purported overt quality of its defense program.

A report carried in World Tribune.com dated Sept. 12 cited Israeli intelligence as linking Iraq with bin Laden. U.S. officials continue to pursue the Iraq-bin Laden connection.

There are also reports questioning the transparency of Iraq's weapon-development programs, including the possibility of the production of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.

On June 20, the Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty website reported that a U.S. arms-control research foundation, the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, states that Iraq continues to engage in sophisticated weapons development – including nuclear weapons.

The nations cited in the report included Romania, Belarus, Ukraine and Russia.

About one year ago, the former chief of Saddam Hussein's nuclear weapons program, Khidhir Hamza, released details of his recollection of Iraq's atomic bomb production efforts in the book "Saddam's Bombmaker."

Hamza recounted Saddam's enthusiastic commitment to weapons of mass destruction, especially atomic bombs.

In an article from the Oct. 9, 2000, issue of Der Spiegel, Saddam is quoted as stating, "The West underestimates us."

While Iraq may very well be producing – or has produced – chemical, biological and nuclear weapons in violation of U.N. directives, Baghdad still has powerful supporters in the international community, including America's supposed partner in its anti-terror campaign, Russia.

Ironically, despite growing evidence that Baghdad is breaking internationally imposed arms agreements, Moscow continues to support Iraq, describing Baghdad as its "long-time partner."

At the same time Russia backs the Iraqi regime – considered by the U.S. and others as a state supporting terrorism – it is demanding that the United States acquire from the nations of the world "perfect unity of understanding and coordination of efforts" before retaliating for the Sept. 11 attacks.

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