Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is an evil man who will wreak havoc on the world if the West does nothing to stop him, U.S. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said in an interview broadcast Thursday.
Rice said the U.S. belief in the "moral case" for removing Saddam from power was undiminished. "This is an evil man who, left to his own devices, will wreak havoc again on his own population, his neighbors and, if he gets weapons of mass destruction and the means to deliver them, all of us, is a very powerful moral case for regime change," she told British Broadcasting Corp. radio. "We certainly do not have the luxury of doing nothing."
Rice said that Saddam's pursuit of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons in defiance of its disarmament pledge after the 1991 Gulf War was a powerful case for a regime change. "He has used chemical weapons against his own people and against his neighbors, he has invaded his neighbors, he has killed thousands of his own people," Rice said.
"He shoots at our planes, our airplanes, in the no-fly zones where we are trying to enforce U.N. security resolutions."
"Clearly if Saddam Hussein is left in power doing the things that he is doing now this is a threat that will emerge, and emerge in a very big way," she said. "History is littered with cases of inaction that led to have grave consequences for the world. We just have to look back and ask how many dictators who ended up being a tremendous global threat and killing thousands and, indeed, millions of people, should we have stopped in their tracks," she added.
Also on Thursday, the Iraqi Air Force Command said U.S. and British fighter jets have bombed targets in southern Iraq, wounding four civilians. It said the planes struck civilian and service targets shortly before midnight on Wednesday in the provinces of Missan and al-Wassit, and that its air defences fired at the attacking planes.
Meanwhile, Iraq's Revolution Command Council, the country's highest ruling body, nominated Saddam Hussein for another seven-year mandate during an October 15 presidential referendum.
During a meeting presided over by Saddam himself, the council "unanimously decided to present the candidature of leader Saddam Hussein for post of president of the republic," state television reported.
"The council's members affirmed during the meeting that the qualities President Saddam Hussein has shown as head of the revolution and state have been the best guarantee for preserving Iraq's sovereignty, independence and dignity and continuing development in all sectors despite imperial-Zionist plots and the unfair embargo," television said. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
