"Long War" is doublespeak for "thousands of our soldiers will die and we'll keep sending more over."
What happened to killing Saddam within 48 hours and leaving it at that? The story keeps changing and changing...
Even Colin Powell is trying to warn us about this war. As best he can, considering he works for the crazies that are in favor of this war.
Colin Powell. If you're listening. I have a question for you:
Why don't you stop this war right now by speaking out against it?
You could stop all the madness right now, by just picking up the telephone, resigning, and telling the world why.
Why not tell the truth you must know better than anyone else? Why show up to the U.N. with smoke and mirrors and a vial of anthrax and a dog and pony show?
(Video of this on the way, of course, courtesy of The Daily Show...of course.)
Powell: Commitment in Iraq Would Be Long
Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites),
on the eve of another faceoff at the United Nations
(news - web sites) over disarming Saddam Hussein
(news - web sites), said Thursday the American
people should be "prepared for a fairly long-term
commitment" in Iraq...Once those goals are achieved, Powell said, the
U.S. military leader in such a war would take
temporary charge of Iraq. But that person
would give way to a prominent American
or international figure, whose own term
would be limited with an eye toward turning
over the government to the Iraqis themselves,
the secretary of state said."We would try to build as much as we can
on the structure that is there," Powell said.
"The challenge would be to put in place a
representative leadership."...His confrontation with officials of those
two countries is set for Friday in New York.
That's when chief U.N. weapons inspectors
Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei report
on searches that have not turned up what
the Bush administration has characterized
as hundreds of concealed and illicit
biological and chemical weapons...Meanwhile, a new audio recording by
Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) was
reported Wednesday — the second to
surface this week — in which the al-Qaida
leader purportedly predicts his own death
in an unspecified act of "martyrdom."Al-Ansaar, a British-based Islamic news
agency, said it believed the 53-minute tape,
allegedly recorded earlier this month and
acquired by the news agency from an
unidentified man via an Internet contact,
was a carefully worded last will and
testament from bin Laden.
Here is the full text of the article in case the link goes bad:
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=542&e=1&u=/ap/20030213/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_iraq
By BARRY SCHWEID, AP Diplomatic Writer
WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites), on the eve of another faceoff at the United Nations (news - web sites) over disarming Saddam Hussein (news - web sites), said Thursday the American people should be "prepared for a fairly long-term commitment" in Iraq.
Appearing before the House Budget Committee, Powell said he could furnish no estimate of the cost of any war with Iraq. But he did say he thought that Arab nation should be able to adjust quickly after a war — in contrast to the slow pace of recovery in Afghanistan (news - web sites).
Iraq has an effective bureaucracy, rich oil resources and a developed middle class, Powell said. "I would hope that it would be a short conflict and that it would be directed at the leadership, not the society," he said.
Once those goals are achieved, Powell said, the U.S. military leader in such a war would take temporary charge of Iraq. But that person would give way to a prominent American or international figure, whose own term would be limited with an eye toward turning over the government to the Iraqis themselves, the secretary of state said.
"We would try to build as much as we can on the structure that is there," Powell said. "The challenge would be to put in place a representative leadership."
At another hearing, Sen. John Warner (news, bio, voting record), chairman of the Armed Services Committee, asked whether U.S. forces were prepared for a possible war with Iraq while continuing the fight against terrorism.
"Absolutely," replied Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld also told senators he couldn't estimate the cost of a war, but added, "It would cost a heck of a lot less than 9-11 cost and 9-11 would cost a heck of a lot less than a chemical or biological 9-11," referring to administration concerns that Iraq could provide weapons of mass destruction to terrorists.
Asked by Sen. Evan Bayh (news, bio, voting record), D-Ind., about the future of NATO (news - web sites) following a dispute with allies over defending Turkey, Rumsfeld joked "I have a feeling you're trying to put me in a position of defending Germany or France."
Bayh replied: "It's hard to defend the indefensible."
Rumsfeld said that while he is disappointed by the dispute, he believes the alliance is important. He recalled that the alliance has survived past disputes. "It's never been perfect. it's always been bumpy," he said.
Powell said Wednesday he intends to ask France and Germany whether they are opposing war with Iraq in order to get Saddam "off the hook."
His confrontation with officials of those two countries is set for Friday in New York. That's when chief U.N. weapons inspectors Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei report on searches that have not turned up what the Bush administration has characterized as hundreds of concealed and illicit biological and chemical weapons.
U.S. and Russian officials on Wednesday said international missile experts this week did find that an Iraqi missile exceeds the maximum 93-mile range allowed under U.N. resolutions. U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte said it was now up to Blix to recommend what to do about the violation.
In addition, Turkey's foreign minister, Yasar Yakis, was holding talks in Washington on basing American troops in Turkey for use against Iraq.
And Sen. Joseph Lieberman (news, bio, voting record), D-Conn., asked President Bush (news - web sites) to consider convening debtor and donor conferences to pay for a smooth, post-Saddam transition.
Powell told the House International Relations Committee on Wednesday that all 15 nations who voted unanimously in November to threaten Iraq with "serious consequences" if it did not disarm knew they were voting for force as an option.
"I hope in the days ahead we will be able to rally the United Nations around the original resolution and what other resolution might be necessary in order to satisfy the political needs of a number of the countries," Powell said.
But he said the United States would not be deterred by opposition to using force.
"France and Germany are resisting," he said. "They believe that more inspections, more time" should be allowed.
"The question I will put to them is: Why more inspections? And how much more time?" Powell said. "Or are you just delaying for the sake of delaying in order to get Saddam Hussein off the hook and no disarmament? That's a challenge I will put to them."
A U.S. official confirmed that Powell would be in New York, speaking to his counterparts Friday. The Security Council members will have a chance to discuss the report from Blix and ElBaradei first at the open meeting, and then in a closed session, said Germany's U.N. Ambassador Gunter Pleuger, the current council president.
The New York Times reported in Thursday's editions that Pentagon (news - web sites) officials say Iraqi forces have moved explosives into the southern part of the country in preparation for blowing up bridges, bursting dams and igniting oil fields in a strategy to slow an American attack.
Meanwhile, a new audio recording by Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) was reported Wednesday — the second to surface this week — in which the al-Qaida leader purportedly predicts his own death in an unspecified act of "martyrdom."
Al-Ansaar, a British-based Islamic news agency, said it believed the 53-minute tape, allegedly recorded earlier this month and acquired by the news agency from an unidentified man via an Internet contact, was a carefully worded last will and testament from bin Laden.
U.S. counterterrorism officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they were studying the new message.
