U.S. To Train Saddam's Opponents
The Pentagon will train thousands of opponents of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to help in a possible invasion, under an order signed by President George W. Bush, U.S. officials said Saturday.
Former Iraqi military officials are among more than 1,000 men the Defense Department already has vetted for training in combat and other skills, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Pentagon also is looking at the names of more possible recruits, all recommended by the Iraqi National Congress, a London-based group of exiled opponents to the government that Bush wants to overthrow.
The first phase of training could begin next month under a presidential directive Bush signed this month allowing the Pentagon to use $92 million for the program, the officials said.
White House and Pentagon spokesmen declined comment.
Bush says he has not definitely decided to use military force to achieve his goal of "regime change" in Iraq. But the approval of money for opposition military training intensifies preparation for a possible invasion.
Money for the training was appropriated in the 1998 Iraq Liberation Act that authorized $97 million to arm and equip an Iraqi opposition force. Only about $5 million has been spent, reflecting administration wariness about the effectiveness of the INC, an umbrella opposition organization.
Defense and State department officials are to brief Congress this week on plans to instruct the Iraqis in basic combat as well as specialized skills to serve as scouts and interpreters with U.S. ground troops as well as battlefield advisers. Some also may be trained as guards for a prisoner of war camp, officials said.
Meanwhile, the U.S. administration is weighing an Israeli proposal for a joint operation in Iraq's western desert to disarm Iraqi missiles before they could be launched against Israel.
If successful, the operation might not only protect Israeli civilians from an Iraqi attack like the one they weathered in the 1991 Persian Gulf War but eliminate the troublesome prospect of an Israeli retaliatory attack on Iraq.
Under the proposal, which would involve American special forces troops, Israel would furnish the United States with intelligence about the sites and how to disarm them early in the conflict.
In Afghanistan, visiting Gen. Tommy Franks, the American officer in charge of military operations throughout the Persian Gulf region, said any military action in Iraq would not harm U.S. forces' operations to help war-ravaged Afghanistan recover.
On the diplomatic front, the State Department asserted Friday that Bush has the authority to attack Iraq to force it to disarm even if the United Nations does not give the United States the support it has been seeking and not getting for five weeks.
After backing away from a demand that a new U.N. resolution explicitly authorize military force against Iraq, the Bush administration made clear it already has the authorization it needs to attack.
"The [Congressional] resolution says that the president has the authority to act as President of the United States in the best interests of the United States and our friends, in concert with like-minded nations, whether the U.N. has acted or not," said Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Confronting strong global opposition to a war against Iraq, the United States offered a compromise resolution aimed at winning support from France, Russia and China, who want to give Iraq a chance to cooperate with U.N. weapons inspectors without the threat of force.
The new U.S. resolution makes clear Baghdad will face consequences if it obstructs inspections, diplomats said Thursday.
But it drops tough language in the initial U.S. proposal instructing inspectors to report any "interference or problems" to the U.N. Security Council and then authorizing member states to use "all necessary measures" to force compliance — a green light for military action.
CBS News Correspondent Charles Wolfson reports a senior State Department official says if U.N. inspectors go to Iraq and are rebuffed by Saddam Hussein's regime, they would report back to the Security Council, which may or may not decide to take further action. However, the U.N. resolution would not require the Bush administration to come back to the U.N. to seek approval before moving against Baghdad.
Some diplomats saw the compromise as a victory for France, which led the opposition to the original U.S. proposal.
French diplomats were reported to be pleased with the elimination of the reference to "all necessary measures" but concerned about other phrases that could trigger military action, such as a reference to Iraq being in "material breach" if it violates any U.N. resolution.
"What we're trying to do is make this case to the United Nations that collective action is better, but it has to be action that the Iraqis understand will be forthcoming if they are in violation," Powell told reporters.
In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov welcomed the new U.S. proposal and said Powell told him it would be presented formally to the council within days.
"We believe that there are favorable conditions now to preserve the unity of the global community and ensure the return of international inspectors and their efficient work in Iraq," Ivanov said.
While the United States, with British support, has pressed for a single U.N. resolution spelling out consequences if Iraq fails to comply with inspectors, France has pressed for a two-step approach.
France's U.N. Ambassador Jean-David Levitte said France was sticking to its demand for a first resolution to toughen inspections — and a second to authorize action against Iraq only if it obstructs inspections. That position is supported by China and Russia, the other veto-wielding council members.
Powell made jokes about Iraq at a political dinner in New York Thursday night.
"In Baghdad, they don't have hanging chads, they just have hangings," he said, but then turned serious.
"The world faces a real and present danger, and if the United Nations does not act, the United States, joined by other nations, willing nations, must act and we will act," he promised those attending the Al Smith dinner.
Meanwhile, five trucks carrying looted Kuwaiti archives left the Iraqi capital on Friday morning, bound for Kuwait, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said.
The freight will be handed over at the Kuwaiti border in compliance with Iraq's pledge in July to return the national archives looted from Kuwait during Iraq's seven-month occupation of the emirate in 1990-91.
The Foreign Ministry said Thursday the archives to be returned belong to the Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry, Interior Ministry, national security and other Kuwaiti agencies.