Revue <strong>de</strong> Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro <strong>de</strong> la Prensa-Baszn Oz<strong>et</strong>i Cheney opens toughest part of trip Jordan's king publicly opposes u.s. plans to oust Saddam • By MicbaeI R. Gordon TIle New York n_ AIIMAN, .... n: Vice Pœsiaent Dick Cheney on Tuesday began the most difficult phase of his 12-day m~sion to elicit allied support for a POSS1- ble military campalgll àgainst ,~q when he enCQuntered open Oppos1tion from King Abdullah of Jordan. In reCent days, the king ~as wal'!led publicly that aU,S. offens1ve aga1nst Iraq would <strong>de</strong>stabilize the region. A Jordanian official said Abdullah would <strong>de</strong>liver the same message to Cheney in their private me<strong>et</strong>ing Thesday evening. "What the King will tell him is that any attack on Ira'J will be <strong>de</strong>vastating for the whole region," said an official close to the monarch. "It will be <strong>de</strong>vastating in terms of spreading instability. It will be politically and economically <strong>de</strong>vastating. It will be too much to take. With the Israeli-Palestinian situation the way it is, opening another violent front is not good for this region." The comments by Jordanian officials are not a surprise for the Bush Administration. Inessence. the White House is calculating that, however much Jordan and other Arab nations publicly assail the U,S, effort to overthrow Saddam Hussein, they would privately welcome the move, or at least are prepared to acquiesce to a campaign against him. Tfle key, American officials say, is to tell Arab lea<strong>de</strong>rs that if militaryaction .is taken against Iraq, it will be <strong>de</strong>cisive and relatively short. The United States would not leave a woun<strong>de</strong>d Saddam in .power nor would the presence of U,S, forces in the region be prolonged. At the same time, the Bush Administration is seeking to assure Arab lea<strong>de</strong>rs that the White House would not be insensitive to an outcry on the Arab stre<strong>et</strong> that might follow a U.S. effort to install a new government in Bapdad. To dampen resentment, Washmgton insists that it is workin, to stem the violence b<strong>et</strong>ween Israeh and Palestinians. After arriving here Thesday, Cheney said that Washington,would do all it could to eDd to tbe îigh~ fficial A sènior Administration 0 1 traveling with Cheney said ..that Yasser Arafat had:m<strong>et</strong> Israeli conditions for being releaSed from house arrest and that the vice presi<strong>de</strong>nt would take up the matter with the Israelis during his com- . ing visit there. Arafat wants to attend a.n Arab summit me<strong>et</strong>ing in Lebanon this month but has been restricted to the West Bank and Gaza by the Israelis. Cheney plans to m~ in Israel with Anthony Zinni, Presi<strong>de</strong>nt. George. W. Bush's 'special envoy, to review the S1tuation in the Middle East. But Iraq remains the driving American concern. Cheney's basic argument is that Saddam's pursuit of weapons of mass <strong>de</strong>struction 15a security threat that is on a par with the terrorist threat posed by Al Qpeda. If UN weapons inspectors are readmitted to Iraq they must have immediate and unrestricted access to any site in the country, Cheney says. . But the unstated and barely disguised assumption behind the argulDent is that the'inspectors will not.be allowed to do their work properly and that the only sure way to solve the problem is to topple the SaddaDi regime through an American-backed insurrection or aU,S, air and ground campaign. In London, Cheney received a lift when Prime Minister Tony Blair publicly endorsed Washington's' argument that Iraq's <strong>de</strong>velopment of weapons of mass <strong>de</strong>struction are a major threat. But British officials privately told the Americans that time was nee<strong>de</strong>d to build popular su\,port in Britain and international back1ng. InJordan, however, the situation is the reverse. The Jordanians are saying publicly that danger of instability does not arise from Iraq, but from the American plans to take action against Saddam. The reason for Jordan's anxi<strong>et</strong>y is clear: More than 60 percent of Jordan's population is Palestinian. They view ~erica as a supporter of Israel and Would iee an attack on Iraq not as do effort to :prevent Saddam from acquiring puc:lear weapons but as a war b<strong>et</strong>ween the West and Islam. Jordan also bor<strong>de</strong>rs iraq .aDd has extensive tra<strong>de</strong> with its tleighbor. "Our pos.{tion is strongly against a militai strJlœ for many reasons," said JardaIt! fqreign minister, Marwan Muasher. "We are concerned about the territorial in~!f of Iraq. We are concerned about c1vihan casualties and the impact that could have on our own population. This is an Arab population and there is a lot of aftlnity." Another issue, the foreign minister said. is that Jordan currently g<strong>et</strong>s all of its oil from Iraq un<strong>de</strong>r a barter arrangement. "Acutoff would cost us $500 million in hard currency, money we simply don't have," he said. Iraq has sought to exploit the Palestinian resentments, hop1ng to fan political opposition in the Arab world to U.s. action against Baghdad. Iraq recently announced that it was increasi~ payments to the families of PalestiDlans killed fighting the Israelis. Jordanian sensitivities on Iraq bave a long history. During the 1991 Gulf War, King Hussein of Jordan essentially sat on the fence. Angry. Palestinians in Jordan cheered as Iraqi Scud missiles zoomed overhead toward their targ<strong>et</strong>s in Israel. Posters of Saddam were plastered in the stre<strong>et</strong>s. The bad feeling was mutual. But relations b<strong>et</strong>ween the United States and Jordan are currently quite close. On his flight to Jordan. Cheney's ai<strong>de</strong>s ma<strong>de</strong> much of a. w tra<strong>de</strong> agreement and praised Jordan's efforts to s<strong>et</strong> up a hospital in Afghanistan. TEMPETE DU DESERT II Les Etats-Unis préparent leur plan <strong>de</strong> guerre Pour .............. H........ ....... d6pIoyer 200 000 il aoo 000 lIommes en Il'8k. CertIIIna <strong>de</strong>vront , ....., ........ <strong>de</strong>s .... I Le Pentagone apporte la touche finale à un plan <strong>de</strong> guerre dont les 0bjectifs sont clairs <strong>et</strong> précis: il s'agit d'élIminer définitivementSaddam Hussein. La date précise du lancement <strong>de</strong>s o~ rations <strong>et</strong> l'i<strong>de</strong>ntité <strong>de</strong> ceux qui, parmi les alliés, y participeront sont les seuls points qui restent en suspens pour c<strong>et</strong>te <strong>de</strong>uxième phase majeure <strong>de</strong> la guerre contre le terrorisme, sorte <strong>de</strong> Tempête du désert Il,qui, c<strong>et</strong>te fois, pourraitaller jusqu'à Bagdad si nécessaire. L'opération Tempéte du désert -l'offensive aillée sous comman<strong>de</strong>ment américaincontre l'Irak,en 1991- a montré au mon<strong>de</strong> comment se dérouleraient dé!lOrmaisles guerres mo<strong>de</strong>rnes: une campagne intense <strong>de</strong> bombar<strong>de</strong>ments, suivie d'une attaque <strong>de</strong> ~ guerre éclair menée par les troupes au sol. En 1991, "Invasion du Koweit par l'Irak avait justifié "intervention contre Bagdad. C<strong>et</strong>te fois, c'est la production irakienne d'armes <strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong>struction massive. Tout reste à faire. Malgré les premiers succès enregistrés par les Inspecteurs <strong>de</strong> l'armement <strong>de</strong>s Nations unies dans les années qui ont suivi la guerre du 31
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