AFF/ROGUE STATES/IRAQ

IRAQ WITH OPEN WMD WOULD BE HIGHLY DANGEROUS

IRAQI WMD WOULD DESTABILIZE THE WORLD

EDITORIAL, St. Louis Post-Dispatch February 20, 2001, SECTION: Pg. B14 HEADLINE: THE NEW WORLD DISORDER //VT2002acsln

Mr. Bush must feel some sense of mission in finishing up what his father started and bringing down the man who tried to have the elder Bush assassinated. But his primary goal should be to take the most effective possible steps to deny Saddam a weapon of mass destruction that could destabilize the world.

SADDAM HUSSEIN NOW SEEKS TO USE HIS WEAPONS AGAINST ISRAEL

Richard Butler, led the UN Special Commission to disarm Iraq in 1997-99. January 23, 2001, THE DAILY TELEGRAPH(LONDON) SECTION: Pg. 22 HEADLINE: Bush should start where his father left off//VT2002acsln

Saddam has now been free of arms control for the past two years. Credible evidence strongly suggests that he has been hard at work redeveloping his weapons of choice - nuclear, chemical and biological.

Three months ago, after the fighting between Israelis and Palestinians began, Saddam stated his willingness to fix the Israel problem. The only reason Israel was able to act as it is, he said, was that, for too long, "Arab swords had been allowed to rust in their sheaths". He proposed Iraqi military action against Israel.

SADDAM HUSSEIN IS TURNING HIS MILITARY ATTENTION TO AN ATTACK ON ISRAEL

Amos Perlmutter January 31, 2001, The Jerusalem Post SECTION: OPINION; Pg. 8 HEADLINE: A think-tank recommendation to Bush //VT2002acsln

Disregarding US, UN and other restrictions, and selling sufficient oil on the free market to re-establish an awesome arsenal, Saddam's target is now Israel.

He has offered the Arab rivals of Israel the help of the Iraqi army or a supply of modern weapons. I take Saddam's threats seriously. So should the Bush administration, and Secretary of State Colin Powell concurs.

An Iraqi war with Israel would mean the bloodiest Middle East war in the last 50 years of Arab-Israeli wars. It could involve nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction.