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CIA Says No Evidence Of Iraqi Terrorism
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| "The conditions under which the Iraqi people live also need a fresh look," said Moussa (left) in Washington. |
WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The Central Intelligence Agency has no evidence that Iraq has engaged in terrorist operations against the United States in nearly a decade, and the spy agency is convinced that Saddam Hussein has not provided chemical or biological weapons to Al-Qaeda or related terrorist groups, according to several U.S. intelligence officials, the International Herald Tribune reported Wednesday.
According to the paper, American intelligence officials said they believe the last terrorist operation by Iraq against the United States was a botched attempt to assassinate former U.S. President George Bush during his 1993 visit to Kuwait. That plot was disrupted before it could be launched, and U.S. intelligence officials believe Saddam has been reluctant to use terrorism since then for fear of being detected.
George Tenet, the CIA director, is scheduled to testify Wednesday, February 6, before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence about the global threats facing the United States.
During his appearance, his first before Congress since September 11, Tenet is likely to be asked about a wide range of terrorism-related issues, including Iraq.
On a related issue, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Tuesday, February 5, that Iraq's overture to the United Nations to resume talks should be limited to the country's refusal to allow the return of U.N. weapons inspectors.
"It should be a very short discussion," Powell said of the U.N.'s announcement Monday that secretary-general Kofi Annan would receive a delegation from Iraq. "The inspectors have to go back."
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| Prince Turki al-Faisal said his country might not support U.S. military attacks against Iraq. |
Since September 11, there has been widespread speculation about possible Iraqi links to the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
U.S. intelligence officials said they believed that Iraqi intelligence now focuses most of its resources on helping to evade and violate the trade and economic sanctions that have been imposed on the regime since the Gulf War.
In his State of the Union Address last week, U.S. President George W. Bush described Iraq, Iran and North Korea as an "axis of evil" that the United States must confront to maintain global stability.
Some U.S. intelligence officials say that the Bush administration does not have enough evidence of Iraqi complicity in terrorism to justify making Iraq the next target in the so-called "war on terror".
News agencies quoted Powell as saying U.N. weapons inspectors should return to Iraq because Saddam must demonstrate that he is not trying to develop weapons of mass destruction.
Inspectors left Iraq in 1998 and have been barred from returning.
The U.N. said Monday, February 4, that Amr Moussa, the Arab League secretary-general who recently visited Baghdad, had told U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan that Iraq would resume talks without any special conditions. Annan responded that he was prepared to receive a delegation from Iraq.
However, the U.N. gave no indication whether the Iraqi government was willing to discuss the return of U.N. inspectors.
Powell, speaking before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that Iraq should not hesitate to admit the inspectors if it were not developing weapons of mass destruction.
But Moussa, speaking to reporters Tuesday in Washington, said all issues -- not just the return of the inspectors -- should be on the table.
Moussa refused to say whether he believed a breakthrough could be reached, but said, "The conditions under which the Iraqi people live also need a fresh look."
Meanwhile, Prince Turki al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia's former intelligence chief, suggested Sunday, February 3, in Washington that his country might not support U.S. military attacks against Iraq even if Saddam Hussein were found to be developing a nuclear weapon.
"Any action in Iraq, if it is going to succeed, it will have to come from inside Iraq," said Turki.
A senior adviser to United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld indicated war with Iraq was likely even if Baghdad allows inspectors back in to hunt for weapons of mass destruction, according to an interview with the German edition of the Financial Times Deutschland published Monday, February 4, the Pakistani daily, Dawn, reported.
"I don't think there's anything [Iraqi leader] Saddam Hussein could do that would convince us there's no longer any danger coming from Iraq," said Richard Perle, head of the Defense Policy Board of the U.S. Department of Defense and a top Rumsfeld adviser.
Perle, quoted at the Munich Security Conference, said the only thing that would convince the U.S. regarding Iraq would be a change of regime. Bush was now on "a very clear path" heading toward war with Iraq, said Perle.
The newspaper said if Perle was right, even Iraq's meeting the U.S. demand for the return of international inspectors would do nothing to prevent American military strikes.
Perle said Afghanistan was a possible model for a war with Iraq. Such a scenario would include massive U.S. air strikes on Iraq, special operations units on the ground and the use of domestic opposition groups to carry the main burden of ground war.
"The potential fighting forces would be Kurds in the north and the Shias in the south," he said.
A leadership structure could be the Iraqi National Congress (INC), he added. The INC has long been regarded as weak and divided, the Financial Times Deutschland pointed out.
Perle repeated the view expressed by American officials at the conference that Washington was little concerned over European opposition to a war with Iraq. "If we have to choose between defending the U.S. without our allies and not defending ourselves with our allies, we will choose defense," said Perle.
"If the European message is: we accept risks posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and don't [want you] to do anything about it because it makes us nervous, then the European influence will be zero," Perle noted. He added: "Up until now the European recommendations have not been helpful."
The German foreign ministry warned Monday against a military strike against Iraq by the United States. "There are no signs and no evidence that Iraq is involved in the terrorism that we have been discussing for several months," said Deputy Foreign Minister Ludger Volmer.
The fight against terrorism should not be used to legitimize old enmities and settle old accounts, Volmer added.
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