Washington’s devil number

The USA has six plans to kill its own soldiers

The unprecedented information campaign against Iraq has achieved its goal. No one now doubts that there will be a war. In fact, people are already gambling on that, and analysts are counting the consequences.

The supporters and adversaries of the new war are about 50:50, but maybe there is a bit of overbalance in favor of the adversaries. There are several countries on the list of those who have publicly confirmed the correctness of the American position: Great Britain, Australia, and several others. France, Canada, Germany, and Spain are not so sure. The remaining countries are either keeping their silence or say nothing (Russia, China), but Washington does not care at all. The Arabs are totally against this new war, because they understand that “today, they deal with Saddam, and our turn will come tomorrow.” However, there is no unity among them, which is why it is very likely that they might sell Iraq out if they are offered a large sum of cash.

It may seem strange, but Iran is one of adversaries of the war, in spite of the fact that the war between Iran and Iraq continued for eight years. The situation has changed recently, and the two countries have become closer to each other. Iran is against the war, because a possible strike on Iraq will destabilize the situation both in Iraq and in the whole world. This was actually said by the President of Iran Mohammad Khatami. The president claimed that the territorial integrity of the USA and the future of his nation is a very important factor for the whole region. The president also thinks that Baghdad must pass international resolutions and destroy the reasons that resulted in the instability and interference of the allies. He means the USA and Great Britain, as they accuse Iraq of developing programs of weapons of mass destruction.

There is no common opinion regarding the operation in Iraq among America's allies (great Britain and the USA). Tam Dalyell, a Labor backbencher in the House of Commons, wrote to Prime Minister Tony Blair, calling upon the premier to recall the British parliament in this respect. The statesman read that British society is becoming more and more concerned with the USA’s possible attack on Iraq without the UN’s approval. Blair repeatedly said that there had not been any decisions made on the subject, but Tam Dalyell finds the situation was rather alarming.

Dalyell also referred to a recent statement from the former chief of the British Army headquarters, Edwin Bramall, who said that the country risked being dragged into a "very, very messy and long-lasting Middle East war," if it is going to be involved in a military action against Iraq.

Washington holds a skeptical view; they have six plans for a military operation in Iraq. This was reported by Newsweek magazine, with reference to anonymous sources in the presiden's administration. The variants of the army operation in Iraq vary from a large-scale campaign to a limited operation with the use of American commandos to cause a rebellion within Iraq against Saddam Hussein’s regime. It was also said that none of the variants were convincing, when it came to the capture of Baghdad – the capital of Iraq with a population of four million people.

The USA is likely to overthrow Hussein, but the price of human lives, both Iraqi and American, will be horrible. The magazine wrote that the Bush’s administration was quietly preparing for the war anyway.

Dmitry Litvinovich PRAVDA.Ru

Translated by Dmitry Sudakov