BY MEGAN ARNEY
Washington has stepped up its military maneuvers against the
Iraqi people, renewing threats to carry out missile strikes
against that country.
The Iraqi government suspended all dealings with the United Nations Special Commission October 31, which includes the so- called UN inspections teams and monitors imposed following the U.S.-led slaughter of some 150,000 Iraqis in the Gulf War in 1991. Baghdad cut off relations in protest of a UN Security Council decision that even if it proclaimed the Iraqi government to be in compliance with UN weapons resolutions, the economic sanctions strangling the country might not be lifted.
Washington responded by threatening Baghdad with military strikes. Attempting to shore up support for their threats, U.S. defense secretary William Cohen traveled to the Mideast to meet with government officials in the region.
Pentagon officials made a point of announcing November 3 that Washington had enough military power in the Persian-Arab Gulf to launch a strike on Iraq without using its bases in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi government, which allowed that country to be the military base for U.S. troops during the 1990-91 Gulf War, has said it will not permit the country to be a "springboard" for further attacks on Iraq.
Currently, the U.S. military arsenal includes more than 200 warplanes; an aircraft carrier, 23,000 troops, and seven Navy ships carry 250-300 Tomahawk cruise missiles with 1,000-mile range. That's more missiles than were used during the Gulf War.
The Iraqi government has repeatedly denounced the United Nations of working on behalf of the U.S. government in prolonging the sanctions placed on that country in 1990 leading up the massive bombing of the Iraqi people.