- America will NUKE Baghdad if Saddam Hussein dares unleash
weapons of mass destruction, it emerged last night.
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- The chilling warning to Iraq was revealed by former Tory
Premier John Major, who led Britain in the 1991 Gulf War.
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- During that conflict, allied forces were armed with ãbattlefieldä
nuclear weapons and prepared to use them in a counter attack, he said.
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- Saddam was privately warned his capital would be obliterated
if he used weapons of mass destruction against allied troops or Middle
East targets ÷ including Israel.
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- And senior security sources last night confirmed Saddam
has been warned AGAIN of the consequences if he breaks the ban on using
terror weapons.
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- Mr Major wrote of the Gulf War: ãIn private, Saddam
Hussein received an unmistakable warning about the immediate and catastrophic
consequences for Iraq of any such attack on civilians.
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- ãI knew that if he did use these diabolical weapons
we would have to escalate our response to bring the war to a speedy and
conclusive end before too many of our troops were exposed to them.ä
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- Mr Major yesterday supported renewed action but raised
questions about the way a cornered Saddam might lash out.
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- He said: ãOn this occasion we will specifically
be going to war in order to replace the Iraqi regime. Saddam will be gone.
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- ãHe will be dead, he will be in prison, or he
will be in exile. Would he try to create maximum chaos? Would he seek to
use weapons of mass destruction?
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- ãWould he use them on oil fields in the Middle
East to create economic chaos? Would he pass them to terrorist groups,
would he ÷ perhaps the worst nightmare of all ÷ try to use
them on an adjacent capital?
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- ãWe can largely protect against that, do not press
me on how, we can protect against that.ä
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- Saddam targeted Jerusalem with 39 Scud missiles in 1991
÷ killing two and injuring hundreds ÷ in an attempt to drag
Israel into the fighting.
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- He had chemical and biological warheads too but chose
not to use them in the face of Americaâs warning.
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- Yesterday Israeli forces moved Patriot missile launchers
÷ which take out incoming rockets ÷ into position in case
Saddam targets them again.
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- Pressure was building on Iraq as a British ex-UN official
warned that sending in weapons inspectors is a ãno-winä move
because Saddam would hide his arsenal.
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- Tim Trevan, an expert on biological weapons, said: ãI
donât think sending in weapons inspectors is a good idea, but it
may be a necessary thing to do because of the political situation.
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- ãWe know he had anthrax and botulinum toxin and
we know he had nerve gases.
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- ãWe never found all his equipment and heâs
had four years to build new production facilities underground. The job
of finding them would be nigh on impossible.ä
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