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Role of air power in the Iraq conflict and lessons for Pakistan Air Commodore (Retd) JAMAL HUSSAIN discusses what lessons we can draw from Iraq. The On- Going Conflict in Iraq The on-going conflict in Iraq has proven once again, if any further proof was required, the dominance of air power in the modern battlefield. While it may be premature to draw any major conclusions from a conflict that is still raging, the all pervading effect of Coalition air power and its near total absence by the Iraqi forces is too obvious to ignore. Imagine, a force of about a...

We are being warned by journalists, now that we are all the way into day eight of the war, that the U.S. is getting bogged down in a bloody quagmire. Not to make light of the daunting task that faces our nation, but considering that after eight days of armed conflict the U.S. known loss of life (40+ dead) is still less than the number of lives lost in the Rodney King rioting in L.A. that lasted less than 3 days (53 dead), this may be a bit premature. For reference, consider the following recent successful U.S. military operations: Grenada....

AMMAN 1970, A MEMOIR By Norvell De Atkine This is the first in a series of memoirs on the Middle East in the 1960s and 1970s. Norvell de Atkine was one of the first Middle East experts trained by the U.S. military. He attended the American University in Beirut, became a U.S. military attache in Jordan, and spent many years working in the Arab world. I had just completed my studies at the American University of Beirut (AUB) in 1970, as part of the US Army Foreign Area Specialist program, when Major Bob Perry, assistant U.S. army attaché in Jordan,...

Hymn Before Action by Rudyard Kipling 1896 The earth is full of anger, The seas are dark with wrath, The Nations in their harness Go up against our path: Ere yet we loose the legions -- Ere yet we draw the blade, Jehovah of the Thunders, Lord God of Battles, aid! High lust and froward bearing, Proud heart, rebellious brow -- Deaf ear and soul uncaring, We seek Thy mercy now! The sinner that forswore Thee, The fool that passed Thee by, Our times are known before Thee -- Lord, grant us strength to die! For those who kneel beside...

War Plans and Pitfalls by MICHAEL T. KLARE [from the October 21, 2002 issue] After months of internal wrangling over tactics and strategy, it now appears that the White House has settled on the basic design for the US invasion of Iraq. President Bush was given a detailed plan for the assault on September 10, and it appears that key combat units have been moved to the Middle East or are being readied for deployment to the region. Although most of the world is still focused on the diplomatic whirlwind at the United Nations, American military personnel are behaving as...

Fayetteville (NC) Observer October 5, 2002 Injuries To 82nd Division Soldiers Increase By J.S. Newton, Correspondent BAGRAM, Afghanistan - As the U.S. military steps up combat operations in the frontier regions of eastern Afghanistan, injuries among American troops are increasing. Several 82nd Airborne Division soldiers have been among those recently hurt in accidents and combat operations. Military officials say casualties are a part of war. "We are operating in a very dangerous place,'' said Maj. Rich Patterson, the division's top spokesman. "Very austere. The bottom line is military operations are hazardous by nature.'' Since the division's arrival earlier this year,...

National Journal October 5, 2002 Pg. 2866 The Iraq Buildup, II The U.S. military has spent a decade getting ready for a second Gulf war. And its preparations have accelerated rapidly since 9/11. By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. The Marines land in Kuwait. The Air Force bombs Saddam Hussein's command posts. Covert teams slip into Iraq. Army tanks rehearse crossing the Euphrates River. Navy crews race to ready their warships for sea. Transport vessels laden with supplies steam unheralded toward the Persian Gulf. Factories churn out precision weapons at an ever-accelerating pace. The world may not be ready to accept...

Managing Taiwan Operations in the Twenty-first Century Issues and Options -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jianxiang Bi © 1999 by Jianxiang Bi TAIWAN IS PART OF CHINA. Debates on this well-established concept have now created a backlash. Beijing’s rapidly increased political, economic, and military power has strengthened its belief in the ideal of “one China” and its determination to reunify the country. But how it would attain this end is ambiguous. The concept of “one country, two systems” is designed to integrate peacefully the de facto entities separated by the Strait, allowing Taiwan to preserve its political, economic, and social systems, distinct from those...

Washington Times September 30, 2002 Pg. 21 Vision Of World War IV By Arnaud de Borchgrave Wake up America, you are already in World War IV. That is the staccato rat-tat-rat message coursing through television talk shows by those who see themselves as latter-day Winston Churchills. The theoretician in chief is R. James Woolsey, a former CIA director during the Clinton administration, whose lucubrations bear serious examination. The U.S. and its allies fought three world wars — two "hot" and one "cold" — in the 20th century. The first world war of the 21st century is not a war against...

U.S. troops find women hiding automatic weapons, grenades... Posted by Afgha.com on Monday, September 23 2002 @ 14:15:00 CEST Associated Press - via Yahoo News Mon Sep 23, 4:22 AM ET By KIKO ROSARIO ...in eastern Afghanistan BAGRAM, Afghanistan - U.S. forces conducting searches in eastern Afghanistan ( news - web sites) over the weekend found grenades and automatic weapons hidden by Afghan women, including some weapons concealed under their all-encompassing burqas, a U.S. military spokeswoman said Monday. Lt. Col. Carla Sylvester said the weapons were found Sunday in searches near the Afghan towns of Khost and Deh Rawood. "We've...

DefenseWatch (sftt.org) September 18, 2002 The Hidden Casualties Of Gulf War I By David H. Hackworth Back in 1990, a few months before the bombs started dropping on Baghdad, an Army pal slipped me a Pentagon study based on World War II experiences estimating that U.S. forces would suffer 50,000 casualties during the projected six-month campaign. Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf's staff later predicted a still-staggering 20,000 dead or wounded. Because Stormin' Norman's forces brilliantly zapped Saddam Hussein's mob in a record-breaking 100-hour ground war, actual U.S. casualties were a mere fraction of these two estimates – 147 KIA and 457 WIA....

Defense & Foreign Affairs Daily September 18, 2002 Iraqi Move To Accept UN Weapons Inspectors Unlikely To Severely Disrupt US Strategic Momentum Analysis. By Gregory R. Copley, Editor. A move on September 17, 2002, by the Government of Iraq to agree to admit United Nations (UN) weapons inspectors, in a bid to undermine US efforts to win UN Security Council approval to act militarily against the country, seemed unlikely to do more than delay slightly US steps to attempt to remove Iraqi Pres. Saddam Hussein. The Iraqi move was designed to undercut support for the US position in the Security...

War hero shares IT lessons learned BY Dan Caterinicchia Sept. 17, 2002 Special operations troops deployed in Afghanistan have had to wage war in some of the most challenging environments imaginable, and for the most part, their information technology tools have performed admirably. But something must be done to lighten soldiers' battlefield loads, which can exceed 140 pounds, with more than 73 percent of that weight coming from equipment, according to Air Force officials who have had to carry those packs. "It's absolutely unacceptable that we have to walk with that much weight with the technology we have today," said...

New York Daily News September 13, 2002 Invasion 'Bloody Mess'? Expert worried by nukes, lack of U.S. postwar plan By Richard Sisk, Daily News Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - The U.S. would win a war with Iraq, but the battle and victory itself would have consequences that President Bush should think very hard about, a respected military analyst said yesterday. "Could this be a bloody mess? Yes, it could," said Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "And what do we do after we win?" In a briefing on his 100-page analysis of Iraq's military, Cordesman said war...

<p>WASHINGTON -- Intensifying its preparations for a possible attack on Iraq, the Bush administration is asking Britain to house stealth bombers at an Indian Ocean air base, while Saudi Arabia indicated it may allow bases there to be used against Iraq.</p>

New York Times September 16, 2002 Pg. 1 Saudis Indicating U.S. Can Use Bases If U.N. Backs War By Todd S. Purdum WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 — The Saudi foreign minister indicated this weekend that his country would let the United States use its military bases in a United Nations-backed attack on Iraq, a sign that Arab nations may be dropping their resistance to an attack on Saddam Hussein. The Saudi minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, said that if there was a Security Council resolution backing military action, all United Nations members would have to honor it. In a CNN interview from...

Pentagon considers a hit before buildup Rowan Scarborough THE WASHINGTON TIMES Published 9/6/2002 The U.S. military would need 60 to 90 days to put a full invasion force of troops, tanks, ships and warplanes in position to attack Iraq, if President Bush authorizes an assault to topple Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. But the president could authorize a different kind of military buildup. Rather than following the World War II doctrine of positioning forces for months before attacking, the United States could begin an assault with forces now in the region, then bring in more troops. About 100 U.S. and British...

Iraq claims to be "impregnable fortress" as air defense base hit September 06, 2002, 12:11 PM BAGHDAD (AFP) - The war of words over Iraq heated up with Saddam Hussein's press trumpeting boldly that the country is an "impregnable fortress" while his regime ignored claims that US and British warplanes have carried out a major strike on an Iraqi air defense facility. The press here was devoid of any reference to claims by London's Daily Telegraph that about 100 US and British aircraft raided an Iraqi air defense installation in the biggest operation over the country in four years. Instead,...

<p>When Marines landed at a remote desert airstrip in southern Afghanistan last fall, they set to work on that most basic of grunt activities — digging a fighting hole. But amazingly, some probably were doing it for the first time in their young grunt lives.</p>

San Diego Union-Tribune September 4, 2002 Behind-The-Desk Brigade Promotes War Others Fight By Lionel Van Deerlin Leading the charge from behind a desk. We should attack Iraq, the sooner the better. An air war for sure, maybe ground troops too. That's up to the president. Allies? – who needs 'em? Or utilize the United Nations? Hah! I detect a distressingly familiar pattern here. Almost without exception, it seems, the loudest voices for sending Americans into battle are raised by persons who never have been to war themselves. A sensitive point, this. Who would argue that wisdom in foreign affairs is...

London Times September 5, 2002 Ship To Move More Tanks To The Gulf By Michael Evans, Defence Editor THE warlike language in Washington and London is matched by US military preparations for possible action against Iraq in the next few months. The US Military Sealift Command has chartered another general cargo ship to take tanks and other armoured vehicles to the Gulf region for later this month. Although Pentagon officials tried to play down the move, saying that the chartered vessel was taking equipment for an exercise in Jordan, it will be the third shipment of armour in a month,...

London Daily Telegraph September 5, 2002 Bush Faces Long Wait To Build Up Enough Forces Against Baghdad By John Keegan, Defence Editor Amid all the debate over the rights and wrongs of a new war against Iraq, the most important point is that it cannot be started yet and probably not for months to come because the forces are simply not in place. Although two American carrier groups are in the vicinity, their embarked troops amount to only about 4,400 men, far too few to form an invasion force. One brigade of the 101st Air Assault Division remains in Afghanistan...

Troops kill man brandishing rifle during vehicle search in Afghanistan By Scott Schonauer, Stars and Stripes European edition, Friday, August 30, 2002 BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan — U.S. special operations forces in eastern Afghanistan killed a man Wednesday afternoon after he brandished a rifle, an Army spokesman said. American troops felt threatened and shot the man at a vehicle checkpoint in Lwara in the province of Paktika, about 90 miles south of Kabul, Army Col. Roger King said Thursday. “While U.S. forces were searching his vehicle, he picked up an AK-47 and displayed hostile intent,” King said. Wednesday’s shooting was...

Stratfor.com August 28, 2002 Situation Deteriorating Rapidly In Afghanistan Summary -- Recent reports indicate the Taliban and al Qaeda are regrouping in preparation for a major escalation of fighting in Afghanistan. Moreover, STRATFOR has received intelligence that resistance to U.S. forces in Afghanistan has spread well beyond these groups, threatening a steep increase in fighting over the coming months. Analysis -- The editor of London's Al-Quds Al-Arabi magazine, Abdel-Bari Atwan, who reportedly is close to associates of Osama bin Laden, told Reuters Aug. 27 that bin Laden is firmly back in control of a regrouped and reorganized al Qaeda. He...

August 29, 2002 Desert Storm II would be a walk in the park by Kenneth Adelman POLICY abhors a vacuum. That is why there is now a raging debate on “regime change” in Iraq, as reflected by this public airing of differences with my friend Wesley Clark, the former Supreme Allied Commander Europe. No such debate was conceivable six months ago. Then, President Bush and his gifted national security team laid out a clear direction: foreign states are either with us, or against us, in the war on terrorism. Saddam Hussein’s relentless drive for nuclear weapons, and ever more biological...

London Times August 29, 2002 Rumsfeld Recalls Churchill's Stand Against Tyranny By Tim Reid Donald Rumsfeld, the US Defence Secretary, yesterday compared President Bush’s international isolation over plans to attack Iraq with the lonely stand taken by Winston Churchill before the Second World War. Drawing parallels with the threat that Mr Rumsfeld says is posed by President Saddam Hussein, the Defence Secretary highlighted the rigid line Churchill took against the threat of Hitler, in the face of appeasers and doubters at home and abroad, because the British Prime Minister realised what a threat the German leader was to Europe. Mr...

Lessons Can Be Drawn From Afghan War Conflict validates need to ‘transform’ Army, improve aircraft reach and munitions by Daniel Gouré It might appear presumptuous to draw any lessons for the U.S. military from the war in Afghanistan. Yet, this war reflects ongoing changes in military strategy, doctrine, force structure and equipment, with important ramifications for both the ongoing war on terrorism and the broader transformation of the U.S. military. Traditionally, U.S. defense planning has been threat-driven. This means that the force structure and military strategy were focused on countering the most capable and likely threats to the nation. Threat-based...

Washington Times August 28, 2002 Pg. 19 A Call To New Arms By David C. Isby In his recent annual report, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld wrote: "It is not possible to defend against every threat. . . . The only defense . . . is to take the war to the enemy." Pre-emption is not just about Iraq. This administration is using the threat of pre-emptive war as the central theme of its campaign to counter Saddam Hussein's longstanding commitment to acquire a nuclear capability. If administration statements on pre-empting emerging threats likely to use weapons of mass destruction (WMD)...

New York Daily News August 25, 2002 Baghdad Tough Turf For Military Army, marines shun big-city combat By Richard Sisk, Daily News Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - A march on Baghdad to topple Saddam Hussein would violate the cardinal rule for U.S. infantry fighting in big cities: Don't do it. Army and Marine military doctrine and the bloody history of the U.S. in urban warfare - from Atlanta and Manila to Hue and Mogadishu - warn against taking high casualties in the "short-sword war fight" of street combat. The doctrine spelled out in current and past field manuals advises commanders to...

Charlotte Observer August 26, 2002 Dispatch From Afghanistan Troops Anxious, Ready To Fight By Peter Smolowitz (Observer reporter Peter Smolowitz traveled with Fort Bragg soldiers on Operation Mountain Sweep, a mission in the eastern Afghan mountains aimed at finding Taliban and al-Qaida cells.) GAZNI, Afghanistan - Kristopher Baker had just dozed off when he heard an incoming whistle. Only after the explosion heaped clumps of dirt onto him did the danger register. U.S. troops were under fire. Sgt. Baker, who's from Asheville, and thousands of others from Fort Bragg finished Operation Mountain Sweep on Sunday -- their first high-profile mission...

<p>Washington -- Several Bay Area members of Congress say their constituents aren't ready to support an American military assault on Iraq and want President Bush to explain why it's so important to oust Saddam Hussein.</p> <p>The House members, back home during Congress' August recess, also insist that Bush must get congressional approval before taking any military action against Iraq.</p>

London Daily Telegraph August 26, 2002 Saddam To Be Target Of Britain's 'E-Bomb' By Michael Smith, Defence Correspondent The Pentagon is planning to use a British weapon that can disable electronic and electrical systems without killing anyone to attack Saddam Hussein's chemical and biological weapons sites. The "radio frequency weapon", or E-Bomb, developed at a secret site in south-west England, sends out a high-intensity radio wave with similar effects to the electromagnetic pulse from a nuclear blast. It is also able to penetrate the underground bunkers where Saddam's chemical and biological weapons are stored as protection from allied bombing. The...

Afghanistan lessons don't apply to Iraq, general says Bill Gertz and Rowan Scarborough THE WASHINGTON TIMES Published 8/22/2002 New war-fighting methods used on the Taliban in Afghanistan would not apply to Iraq, which could prove to be a more formidable foe in any military action to oust Saddam Hussein, the commandant of the Marine Corps said yesterday. "When we draw lessons learned we should be careful that we don't draw the wrong lessons," Marine Corps Gen. James L. Jones said in an interview. "Afghanistan was Afghan-istan. Iraq is Iraq, and it would be foolish, for example, if you ever committed...

Invading Iraq For All The Wrong Reasons by James Dunnigan August 20, 2002 The War on Terror is shifting from Afghanistan to Iraq. The United States has identified Iraq, Iran and North Korea as rogue nations most likely to support terrorism in the future. Iran is, technically, opposed to terrorism, but has a rather strange domestic political situation. While moderate democrats (many of them pro-American) comprise the majority of the population, the constitution gives religious conservatives (who openly support terrorism) veto power over anything the parliament or prime minister does. The moderates are trying to put the Islamic militants out...

Weekly Standard August 26/September 2, 2002 The Prof Who Can't Count Straight And the journalists who cite him. By Joshua Muravchik THE TALIBAN MAY BE DEAD, but its propaganda lives on in the European and Middle Eastern press--thanks in part to the tireless machinations of one hard-left professor at the University of New Hampshire and to the willingness, nay, eagerness, of some of our foreign "friends" to believe the worst about America. On December 10, Marc Herold, an associate professor of economics and women's studies, released a "dossier," claiming to have "documented" 3,767 civilian deaths in the American air campaign...

Matt Maggio, Publisher & Editor Email That the current U.S. war in Afghanistan doesn't resemble your grandpa's days as a GI in World War II got more undeniable last week - if there's anyone out there who still thinks that being "the world's only superpower" now translates into what it did for your grandpa doing occupation soldiering in 1946 Germany. Last Tuesday, Army commanders in Afghanistan were warning U.S. troops to not imitate what Grandpa had done in postwar Germany - as in hand out freebies to local kids. As of now, the Army has banned soldiers from giving out...

The Valleys June 2002 By Dennis Steele GINGER VALLEY, AFGHANISTAN, WITH THE 10th MOUNTAIN DIVISION (LIGHT INFANTRY) -- It was cold when we left the onion patch where Company A spent the night. Although the two platoons involved in the mop-up operation had formed for patrol and moved out fairly late that morning, the sun had to make a long climb to crest the 10,000-foot mountain range to the east. We were still in the chilly shadows as we started a stair-step march up terraces enclosing more small onion fields and headed toward the mouth of the Ginger Valley. Its...

The Mountains June 2002 By Dennis Steele TAKUR GHAR MOUNTAIN, AFGHANISTAN, WITH THE 10TH MOUNTAIN DIVISION (LIGHT INFANTRY) -- Forty-one of us sat on our rucksacks, crammed four abreast inside a Chinook as it left Bagram air base and skimmed the desert 50 feet off the deck at full throttle. Most soldiers dozed -- catching that particular air assault brand of head-bobbing, slack-neck shuteye -- as our helicopter headed toward the mountainous Afghanistan-Pakistan border region. The 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry (4-31 Infantry) had launched a two-company operation to check and clear al Qaeda positions on the Afghan side. Company C's...

US stockpiles weapons in Gulf (Filed: 20/08/2002) The Pentagon has started stockpiling weapons in the Gulf ready for use in a possible invasion of Iraq. President Bush faces growing doubts over an attack on Iraq Military chiefs have hired 10 cargo ships to carry armoured vehicles, helicopters, ammunition, tanks, ambulances and other materials to the region. The build-up is the first clear sign of military preparations for a possible US-led war against Iraq. It is thought that Britain may join any attack led by its American allies. The US Air Force is also preparing arsenals of precision-guided weapons and spare...

Inside The Army August 19, 2002 Pg. 1 Analysts: Army Would Play Pivotal Role In Conflict With Iraq A major conflict with Iraq would likely require the Army to go toe-to-toe with the 275,000-member Iraqi army in urban combat situations, utilize its precision-guided weapons to destroy the enemy and maintain stability in a post-war nation, according to defense analysts. Ground forces -- particularly the Army's special operations forces -- would play the pivotal role in a war with Iraq and would be essential to overthrowing Saddam Hussein's regime and destroying the country's weapons of mass destruction capabilities, these analysts say....

<p>Civilian political appointees in the administration should stop the tub-thumping for war and listen to counsels of restraint by those in the military who would have to fight and die in such a war. Hussein's survival in the 11 years after the Gulf War -- combined with his demonization by three U.S. administrations -- has led many to overstate the threat that despot presents and understate the costs of scrapping the containment policy that has restrained him effectively.</p> <p>Ivan Eland is director of defense policy studies at the Cato Institute.</p>

London Financial Times August 16, 2002 Israel Prepares Civil Defences In Case Of US War On Iraq By Harvey Morris JERUSALEM -- As officials in Israel contemplate the prospect that a US attack on Iraq would prompt retaliatory missile strikes on Israel, the defence ministry has said anti-radiation pills will be distributed as part of civil defence preparations. The government is also considering vaccinating the population against smallpox, a disease eradicated worldwide in 1979 but which, it is feared, could be spread by a missile or terrorist attack. Israel's current focus on war preparations is linked to the likelihood that...

London Daily Telegraph August 16, 2002 Bush Will Finish His Father's Job, Says Kurd Leader By Toby Harnden in Washington Iraqi opposition groups were told in Washington that President George W Bush will complete the job his father failed to finish by overthrowing Saddam Hussein, according to a Kurdish leader. Jalal Talabani, the head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, also said the Kurds would welcome the deployment of American forces in their autonomous enclave as a springboard for an invasion. Previously, the Kurds had feared that supporting a US offensive could leave them at risk of violent revenge by...

Savannah Morning News August 17, 2002 Joint Chiefs Chairman Backs U.S. Right To Strike First Gen. Richard B. Myers addressed war on terrorism in speech to Jewish veterans group. By Noelle Phillips, Savannah Morning News It would be new territory for the United States: attack another country before receiving the first blow. And, that's exactly what Jewish War Veterans members wanted to talk about with the military's senior adviser to the president. Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, defended the United States' new policy on making the first strike against other nations in the war...

Christian Science Monitor August 14, 2002 Pg. 1 Arab Anger Limits US Battle Strategy Arab allies – including Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia – are increasingly critical of US plans for attacking Iraq. By Philip Smucker, Special to The Christian Science Monitor CAIRO - Arab opposition to a US-led overthrow of Saddam Hussein is growing so significantly that it may change the shape of potential US plans to launch an attack against Iraq, Western and Middle Eastern analysts say. The idea is so generally abhorrent to leaders and civilians in the region that the US government will be pressed to...

Aviation Week & Space Technology August 12, 2002 Pg. 31 Military Wants Congressional OK Before Iraq Offensive By David A. Fulghum, Washington and Douglas Barrie, London With Congress' decision to hold hearings on whether war with Iraq is justified, top U.S. military officials have rethought their stance on a possible invasion. They now believe the military needs public approval in advance from Congress. The decision has two political goals: to obtain unequivocal support for the operation from Congress, which controls the Pentagon's purse strings, and to force opposition Democrats into declaring their support or opposition early so there is little...

U.S. troops return fire near Asadabad, kill two By Scott Schonauer, Stars and Stripes European edition, Wednesday, August 7, 2002 BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan — U.S. special operations soldiers killed two assailants Monday after their reconnaissance patrol came under fire, an Army spokesman said Tuesday. No U.S. soldiers were wounded in the afternoon attack north of the city of Asadabad, Col. Roger King said. The city is close to the Pakistan border. Coalition forces frequently have confronted small-arms fire and rocket attacks in eastern Afghanistan near Pakistan. The platoon-sized group of American troops was returning from a patrol when it...

The Nation August 19, 2002 The Rush To War By Richard Falk The American Constitution at the very beginning of the Republic sought above all to guard the country against reckless, ill-considered recourse to war. It required a declaration of war by the legislative branch, and gave Congress the power over appropriations even during wartime. Such caution existed before the great effort of the twentieth century to erect stronger barriers to war by way of international law and public morality, and to make this resistance to war the central feature of the United Nations charter. Consistent with this undertaking, German...

New York Times August 9, 2002 Iraq Is Defiant As G.O.P. Leader Opposes Attack By Eric Schmitt WASHINGTON, Aug. 8 — The House majority leader, Representative Dick Armey, warned today that an unprovoked attack against Iraq would violate international law and undermine world support for President Bush's goal of ousting Saddam Hussein. The remarks by Mr. Armey, a Texas Republican who is retiring this year, are the most prominent sign of Congressional unease that the administration is moving rapidly toward a war against Iraq and were especially striking coming from a leading conservative and a staunch Bush ally. Mr. Armey's...

London Daily Telegraph August 9, 2002 Why The West Must Strike First Against Saddam Hussein By Richard Perle Contemptuous of the UN and fearful of America, Saddam Hussein is down to his last card: dividing America and Britain in the hope that the former will be unwilling to act alone to remove him from office. Saddam's man in London, Mudhafar Amin, told the Guardian: "If Britain does not offer diplomatic and military cover, the Bush Administration will be very hesitant to do anything." Mr Amin is in for a big disappointment. He underestimates President Bush, who has rightly declared that...