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Jewish World Review Jan. 10, 2001 / 15 Teves, 5761
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Saddam Threat Looms,
Thanks to Papa Bush
http://www.jewishworldreview.com --
BELIEVE IT OR NOT, it has been 10 years since the Gulf
War. Now, despite the U.S.-led "victory" in 1991, Saddam
Hussein is still in power and still dreaming of
conquering the neighborhood and then some.
To prove it, Iraqi tank divisions began moving recently
onto the Jordanian and Syrian borders, within striking
distance of Israel. That as United Nations sanctions
have begun to crumble. Even the embargo on flights into
Baghdad is falling apart.
Worst of all, the Iraqi leader and his henchmen
increasingly bypass UN restrictions on their oil exports
by black-marketing fuel through Iran and other countries.
Much of the gold Saddam and his family make on these
illegal sales is being used to buy forbidden arms and
military supplies and know-how on nuclear and chemical
weapons. Saddam bypasses UN rules with a large
contingent of European middlemen. But an equally big
helping hand comes from some of Saddam's closest
neighbors.
Mideast intelligence sources say one of Iraq's most
important contraband procurers is a Syrian with close
family ties to ruling President Bashar Assad. The man's
name, the sources say is, Ibrahim Makhlouf, a cousin of
the Syrian president on his mother's side.
The sources say a Damascus-based Iraqi government straw
company called Matisco handles millions in payments that
go to Makhlouf.
Add to this all the other growing rogue military trade
with Iraq, and you can understand why the Iraqis refuse
to allow UN arms inspectors into their country.
You also can understand why, when Iraq celebrated its
annual Army Day on Saturday, there was an especially
broad smile on Herr Saddam's face.
Can the renewed threat from the Butcher of Baghdad be
stopped? That depends whether our incoming President and
his crew sustain the tough stance that the Clinton
administration took.
Saddam is no fan of the Bush family; he clearly
remembers that it was the senior Bush who launched the
war against him. But Saddam also remembers as do those
like me, who covered the war in 1991 that it was
Secretary of State-designate Colin Powell, who then
headed the U.S. armed forces, and then-Secretary of
State James Baker who argued most fiercely against
finishing off the job by chasing Saddam back into
Baghdad and helping to throw him out of office.
We've been paying the price for that Bush/Powell/Baker
misjudgment ever since. I only hope Powell and George W.
don't compound the
By Richard Z. Chesnoff
JWR contributor and veteran journalist
Richard Z. Chesnoff is a senior correspondent at US News
And World Report and a columnist at the NY Daily News. His latest book is Pack of Thieves: How Hitler & Europe
Plundered the Jews and Committed the Greatest Theft in History.
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