Iraqi President Saddam Hussein on Friday dismissed U.S. allegations that Baghdad has or was seeking weapons of mass destruction as "baby talk".
"They (the U.S.) say: 'we are afraid that Iraq will possess weapons of mass destruction and give them to terrorist organisations to threaten America,'" the official Iraqi News Agency (INA) quoted Saddam as saying.
"If we remove the fear factor from this talk...then they (the world) will say to them (the U.S) it is baby-talk," Saddam was quoted as saying.
During a meeting with military officials marking the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, the Iraqi leader said he would rather be overthrown by the United States than see his country be the target of destructive air strikes.
"We give our support ... to the option of overthrowing the regime -- a civilized slogan -- which is better than attacking, striking the population, harming it and destroying its resources," he commented. Responding to media reports that the Bush administration was aiming to remove him from power, Saddam said "these threats are not new and do not deserve a response."
He said the United States was seeking to make itself feel secure by denying technology to the rest of the world. "It is a selfish method...so we do not want to enter into discussions with them on a matter that we have dealt with for more than 11 years," Saddam added.
Saddam ended his speech by asserting that "those who believe that Iraq, its army and its leadership, can be afraid, do not see the truth."
The U.S. administration wants to oust Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein before the end of President Bush's first term, but officials have yet to agree on the exact method.
Meanwhile, The Washington Times reported that White House officials said in interviews that the administration had reached a remarkable degree of unanimity in recent weeks on the use of covert or military action to depose Saddam. The officials said the administration is discussing a timetable in which Saddam would be deposed before President Bush's first term ends, which is January 2005. The sources say the time limit is being set because there are no assurances Bush will be re-elected or that a Democratic president would move aggressively against Saddam.
Mr. Bush is said to want to achieve major objectives in his war on terrorists, such as destroying Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network and removing Saddam from power, during his first term. "There is now agreement that Saddam must go," a senior policy-maker said. "The big question now is 'how.'" (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
