Iraqi Ambassador Predicts War With U.S. - Part 1

June 20, 2002
Stewart M. Stogel, NewsMax.com
Part one of a series.

UNITED NATIONS – Another military clash with the United States is almost inevitable, Iraq's U.N. ambassador, Mohammed Aldouri, told NewsMax.com in an exclusive interview.

Nothing short of toppling the regime of Saddam Hussein would satisfy the Bush administration, Aldouri said in a wide-ranging interview Monday at U.N. headquarters.

Yet the U.S. has presented no evidence that Iraq has violated U.N. sanctions since arms inspectors withdrew almost four years ago, he said.

While not forecasting the outcome of arms inspection talks with the U.N. in Vienna on July 4-5, Aldouri said that whatever the results, it will make no difference to the U.S. or the United Kingdom, because they have made up their minds.

Excerpts of the Interview

Q: Iraq may go to the U.N. Security Council to complain about the Bush administration's official policy of overthrowing Saddam Hussein ...

Aldouri: I do not think that the Security Council will go along with the Americans in their endeavor. ... Within international law, within the [U.N.] charter, they [U.S.] have no right to get involved in such an operation. This is against everything. This is the law of the jungle.

Why is it that a president of one country can threaten the president of another country? There is no reason for it. We have no role in anything which might endanger the security of the United States.

We have no link with September 11, with anthrax. Practically, how can we threaten the United States? So, there is no logic in his [President Bush's] statements. It is the law of the jungle.

Q: There has been talk about the U.S. using Special Forces for covert action in Iraq. How does Baghdad see this?

Aldouri: Today there is no need to declare war to wage a war on another state, but if you are there and you have your goals, very precise goals, and this is the position of the government of the United States. ... This is a declaration of war against Iraq. ...

Q: The Sunday TV talk shows highlighted military action against Iraq. ... Is the Bush administration setting the stage for a military campaign?

Aldouri: I feel the U.S. government has failed in a lot of areas in the world, especially in the Middle East. Also in Afghanistan, having not found bin Laden or the Taliban leadership.

The American people are still waiting from the American government the results of all their actions. At the end of the day, the U.S. taxpayers are financing the war in Afghanistan. So you have the right to know what they are doing there.

They're trying to justify such operations in Iraq, but I don't think the U.S. government is capable of understanding the results of such actions, which [are] against logic, against peace and security in the world.

The U.S. people should ask the government why must you go to Iraq? They would need to convince other countries in the region, on the Security Council. ... I think they cannot. Iraq has not done anything to harm American interests anywhere in the world.

[end interview excerpts]

On Other Subjects

Aldouri thinks that the U.N. talks in Austria next month will most likely lead to an agreement to allow the U.N. arms inspectors back into Iraq. However, he says Baghdad will broaden the scope of the talks to include the U.S.- and British-patrolled no-fly zones as well as the future of the oil-for-food program.

(The U.N. has no control over the zones, nor did the Security Council authorize them; it was an action by the U.S.)

On Osama bin Laden

He insists Iraq does not know where he is, nor would Saddam offer him a safe haven. However, if bin Laden slipped into the country on his own, it is unclear what would happen next. Aldouri says let the U.S. produce proof that bin Laden was behind the September attacks. He says there is no proof, or direct admission by bin Laden, that he was responsible for the attacks.

On the State Department's assertion that a spy for Iraq was working at Baghdad's U.N. mission in New York:

Aldouri insists that the person in question would be of little use to recruit Americans as spies because he spoke little English. He went on to explain that the prospective expulsion notice was little more than "another attempt of harassment" by the U.S. of Iraqi diplomats.

NewsMax asked if the accused spy frequented any Islamic centers in New York where speaking English is not necessary. Aldouri got excited and explained that he has advised his mission employees to avoid frequenting such institutions. He says he has made arrangements for Friday prayer services to be conducted at the U.N.

Even though Aldouri insists his aide is not a spy, in a practical sense "he has to leave" and as such will most likely depart at the end of the month even though the State Department has not issued an expulsion date.

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/6/19/200202.shtml