American Blitzkrieg Awaits - 11 November, 2002

War against Iraq inevitable

The resolution on Iraq that was passed by the UN Security Council has tied Washington’s hands. The diplomatic victory has turned out to be a defeat. Now, the States will have to obey the rules of the UN and hope that Saddam Hussein will stumble and fall on his own.

Specialists have differing views regarding the resolution on Iraq  passed by the United Nations Security Council. Some believe that it was a victory American diplomacy, while others think that  it was the UN’s victory. However, there is once common opinion about the Iraqi issue. Everyone believes that there will be a war, only it will be slightly delayed now.

The military operation against Iraq might start on December 8th, 2002. This is the deadline that was set by the UN security Council for Baghdad to present a complete list of the Iraqi weapons of mass destructio.  This conclusion was made by the newspaper USA Today on the grounds of indirect official statements from senior American statesmen. US Secretary of State Colin Powel particularly said that the USA was not going to wait until February, trying to understand if Iraq is going to cooperate with the United States or not. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice  claimed that the USA was not going to play the game of cat and mouse anymore. She added that Saddam Hussein would experience serious consequences in case of military maneuvers.  Needless to mention, those serious consequences imply overthrowing Hussein, regardless of  the UN's approval. A war plan has been developed and approved of by President Bush himself. The legitimacy of an invasion of Iraq is surely desirable for the US, but not necessary. Anyway,  even if Saddam Hussein does not have any weapons of mass destruction, he will definitely have them when  everything is over.

The militarism of present-day American society brings us back in the time of World War II. It is all about war, and everything goes for war. American media talk about only war. Every American newspaper describes the details of the coming military operation in Iraq.

According to the New York Times (with reference to high-ranking officials of the American administration), it is planned that about some 250 thousand soldiers will allegedly take part in the military action. The whole campaign is planned to be short: mass bombings and then obtaining control over Iraqi territory. Iraqi military objects are scheduled to be bombed  for a month. Ground and special forces will  seize  the northern,  western, and southern part of the country and then encircle Baghdad.

In addition,  the above-mentioned variant of the invasion of Iraq completely coincides with one the was published in the same newspaper  back in July. Isn’t this strange? The article  from the July issue of the New York Times said that the strike on Iraq would be conducted from  the north, the south, and the west. Tens of thousands of marines and other soldiers are to  participate in the operation. It was also planned to use  hundreds of aircraft, which will take off from airbases in Kuwait, Turkey, and, possibly, Qatar. As it was said in that article,  the major goal of the entire operation was to topple the Iraqi government.

Around the same period of time, the British newspaper the Observer wrote an article about Jordan and Pakistan. According to the newspaper, the American administration was planning to strike Iraq at the end of  2002 or in the beginning of 2003. Jordan was planned to be used as a bridgehead. Pursuant to American military plans, Turkey, Kuwait, and Qatar would play key roles  in the Iraqi affair. However, the air operation was planned to be launched from the territory of Jordan. About 250 thousand American, British, and other allied military men were going to be deployed to Jordan by the beginning of the military action.

The newspaper referred to information that was obtained from the Iraqi opposition. Jordan-based Iraqi dissidents told British journalists that American special forces instructors were coming to Jordan  to prepare  the Jordanian troops  for the future strike on Iraq. Furthermore, the newspaper cited eyewitnesses, who saw military exercises taking place at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in the city of Azraq (75 kilometers to the east of Amman).

Everything is clear as far as Turkey and Kuwait is concerned.  The invasion of  Iraq will  start from their territories. However, there was a mistake made with Jordan, the same one that was made with  Saudi Arabia before. Jordan will  not  be participating  in the military action against Iraq, even  if the action is  authorized by the UN Security Council. This was stated in Cairo by Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher. This official  is now taking part in a meeting of Arab foreign ministers. The Jordanian minister also stated that his country would never allow America to use its territory  as a base to strike Iraq from.

Dmitry Litvinovich
PRAVDA.Ru

Translated by Dmitry Sudakov