- BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A senior
Iraqi Cabinet member warned in an interview Tuesday that ''thousands and
thousands'' of Americans could be killed in Baghdad if U.S.-led forces
launch a ground assault to remove Saddam Hussein.
-
- Trade Minister Mohammed Mehdi Saleh spoke as an Iraqi
delegation agreed on a plan to let United Nations inspectors verify whether
Baghdad is producing chemical, biological or nuclear weapons.
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- Saleh said Iraq has ''nothing to hide'' from the U.N.
weapons inspectors. ''If the United States wants to concentrate on weapons
of mass destruction, Iraq will not give them any chance to take any excuse
(to attack) because Iraq will cooperate fully with the inspectors,'' he
said.
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- Even so, Saleh and many others here say the White House
has decided on a war, whether or not the U.N. inspectors find weapons of
mass destruction. Faced with what they believe is an inevitable conflict,
Iraqis in the capital are vowing to fight any invasion force. ''We don't
want to see Americans killed on our streets. But there will be a strong
battle in Baghdad, and they will lose thousands and thousands of soldiers,''
Saleh said. ''Every Iraqi will be a military man.''
-
- He spoke in his Baghdad office, which is decorated with
10 portraits of the Iraqi leader, a few hours after Saddam called a Cabinet
meeting to discuss the international crisis.
-
- He would not say whether extra troops have been moved
into the capital. Iraq's military has been severely hampered by international
embargoes imposed after the 1991 Gulf War that pushed Iraqi forces out
of neighboring Kuwait. Since that time, Baghdad has not been permitted
to import weapons or develop its own arms.
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- Saleh said Iraq is fighting a Goliath: ''Of course the
United States is much more sophisticated, but they can't kill all the Iraqis.''
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- Iraq is relying on its troops outnumbering enemy forces.
Saleh said the ruling Baath Party has more than 500,000 members who are
armed and trained. ''We are fully prepared for everything -- from the sky,
the desert, the borders,'' he said. ''If they want to come from underground,
we'll be ready for them.''
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- The expectation that U.S. forces will attack Iraq is
driven home nightly on government-controlled television, which is widely
watched. ''The American determination to launch attacks on us is based
on assumptions, not on concrete evidence,'' Tuesday night's newscast said.
''Iraq has accepted inspectors and even after this, the U.S. is still trying
to wage war.''
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