WAR Is Imminent
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Bush gives Saddam 48 hours to flee Iraq
WASHINGTON -- US President George W. Bush on Monday gave President Saddam Hussein 48 hours to leave Iraq or face war and urged the Iraqi people not to fight US forces.
Key points of speech
Mr Bush made the following main points in his 14-minute speech:
Saddam and his sons must leave Iraq within 48 hours or military conflict will result The US has the right to use force for its own security
It's too late for Saddam to remain in power
But not too late for Iraqi military to allow the 'peaceful entry of coalition forces' War criminals will be punished; no defence to say 'I was just following orders' To the Iraqi people: 'The tyrant will soon be gone. The day of your liberation is near' The US will deliver food and medicine to Iraqis, destroy 'apparatus of terror' and help them 'build a new Iraq that is prosperous and free' Saddam and terrorist groups might try to conduct terrorist operations against the US and allies The US recently expelled people with ties to Iraqi intelligence services US and other governments' intelligence 'leaves no doubt' that Iraq has 'some of the most lethal weapons ever devised' All foreign nationals, including journalists and inspectors, warned to leave Iraq immediately.
Current Affairs Manager, COB
Singapore -
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next target: Iran n Syria
Israeli sources say war imminent; Iran and Syria next
UMMAFNews, News From Around The Muslim World
2/15/03
"Sources in the Israeli defense establishment expect a Bush administration assault oÂn Iraq within weeks, if not days.
Israeli Chief of Staff Moshe Yaalon .. states that an attack on Iraq would spark a geopolitical 'earthquake' in the region, following which the US would target Iran and Syria.
Yaalon's comments somewhat echoed statements made several days earlier by a Pakistani opposition leader. Qazi Hussain Ahmed, an official of the Islamic political coalition Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, claimed that the US would target Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan after Iraq.
Prof Edward Ghareeb, a US university professor and lecturer at the Washington-based International Peace Centre, believes that Iran, Syria, and Saudi Arabia are all eventual targets of the Bush Administration.
Ghareeb cites an administration policy document composed in the aftermath of Sept 11 that suggests the US will work to prevent the emergence of any strong country in the Southwest Asian region except Israel and Turkey, and will use Iraq to lessen the US dependence for oil on countries now seen as unreliable, such as Saudi Arabia.
A Gulf News columnist, George Hishmeh, also believes that Iran is likely a post-Iraq target, especially since the US and Israel fear that Iran may now independently develop nuclear bombs. Hishmeh thinks that Syria is in the crosshairs as well.
Ha'aretz quotes unnamed Israeli defense officials in describing President Bush as being 'on a mission from god.' .... The same sources downplayed the possibility of Saddam going into exile, and thus averting a war, as 'practically nil.'
Another Ha'aretz report says that the Israeli Defense Forces have been "constantly" preparing for an attack oÂn Iraq, but the measures have proceeded quietly in order "to prevent panic". -
