Rense.com
Support Ousting Saddam - Report
8-7-2
| WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In the
latest leak in the battle to influence policy on Iraq, The Washington Times
said on Wednesday U.S. armed forces leaders have reached a consensus in
support of using military force to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Citing unnamed Bush administration officials, the daily said some members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff were concerned about casualties to U.S. troops that might result if Saddam were to use chemical weapons and also about the potential for an open-ended occupation of Iraq. But it quoted two administration officials as saying all six chiefs now agree on moving against Saddam. Official U.S. policy for several years has been to seek a "regime change" in Iraq. Since the Sept. 11 strikes on America, the U.S. government has intensified a debate over a possible attack on the oil-producing nation more than a decade after American forces defeated Iraq in the Gulf War. The debate has seen a string of media leaks designed to influence both public opinion and policymakers. Administration officials have vowed to crack down on the practice, bringing in the FBI to investigate possible breaches of national security. "The chiefs have come over because they can read the handwriting on the wall," the Times quoted an administration official as saying. "Now the senior leadership is on board." President Bush said last week that "nothing's changed" regarding the U.S. determination to topple Saddam and he pledged to use "all of the tools at our disposal" to deal with the Iraqi leader. Key Western and Arab allies have urged the United States not to attack. Washington says Saddam seeks to develop weapons of mass destruction, posing a threat to the region and -- if he collaborates with militant groups -- to other countries, including the United States. |
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