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Us threatens nuclear Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20021211/wl_nm/iraq_dc_188http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20021211/wl_nm/iraq_dc_188
U.S. Warns Iraq It Has Nuclear Option
Wed Dec 11, 1:40 AM ET Add World - Reuters to My Yahoo!
By Nadim Ladki
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The United States raised the temperature in its confrontation with Iraq over weapons of mass destruction, saying it could go nuclear if such weapons were used against its forces or its allies.
Washington issued the warning Tuesday as U.N. arms inspectors carried out the most intensive inspections in Iraq of their current mission and the Iraqi Foreign Ministry accused Washington of trying to find a pretext for war.
Iraq accused the United States of looking for an excuse for war by seizing control from the United Nations (news - web sites) of distribution of the 11,000-page declaration of Iraq's weapons programs.
The White House said the accusation was "laughable," but Security Council members such as Norway and Syria -- who will be given only an edited copy of the document -- said they were being treated as second-class powers.
"The United States will continue to make clear that it reserves the right to respond with overwhelming force -- including through resort to all our options -- to the use of WMD (weapons of mass destruction) against the United States, our forces abroad, and friends and allies," the U.S. strategy report said.
Senior U.S. officials said the passage on nuclear deterrence was not a change in policy but had been added to the document, the first update since 1993, to put increased emphasis on the role of deterrence against a weapons of mass destruction attack.
About two dozen U.N. arms inspectors arrived in Iraq on Tuesday, bringing to about 70 the number of inspectors engaged in the hunt for any hidden weapons programs.
Teams of arms experts fanned out to inspect 10 sites across Iraq, including the suspected center of Iraq's nuclear program -- a phosphate facility at al-Qaem, 250 miles northwest of Baghdad, said to have produced refined uranium ore.
It was the largest one-day operation by U.N. inspectors since their hunt resumed last month. Al-Qaem is also the furthest the inspectors have traveled from Baghdad.
At the United Nations, chief weapons inspector Hans Blix said he hoped to have an assessment of the Iraqi arms declaration next week after distributing an edited version of the document to the full Security Council.
FULL ACCOUNT OF WEAPONS PROGRAMMES
Blix said he expected to give the document to all Security Council members by Monday after it had been purged of sensitive information.
The dossier, which is supposed to give a full account of Iraq's past and present weapons programs, was ordered by the Security Council as part of its tough Resolution 1441, demanding Iraq disarm or face serious consequences.
President Bush (news - web sites) has said Iraq would be lying if it said it had no chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, but Baghdad says this is the truth.
Russia said the U.N. weapons inspectors should draw their own conclusions about Iraq's dossier without being put under pressure from outside -- an apparent warning to Washington.
Moscow is concerned Washington could use its copy of the Iraq dossier to pre-empt the Security Council, declare Iraq in breach of its commitments and launch military action.
The United States has built up forces in the region and held exercises in preparation for military action in case Iraq breaches the U.N. resolution.
In London, Iraqi opposition groups said work could start in the next few days to train thousands of President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s opponents for combat. They said U.S. defense officials and Iraqi opposition figures were working out a program.
Nabeel Musawi, a senior member of the Iraqi National Congress, told a news conference the training would start in Europe. The United States has asked Hungary for use of a military base for such training, Hungarian media reported.
Anti-war demonstrators rallied across the United States on Tuesday, with protests ranging from a letter from Hollywood celebrities to a pot-banging march to the White House.
They were some of the most widespread demonstrations against the U.S. military buildup around Iraq, with events in about 120 towns and cities to coincide with International Human Rights Day.
But polls show most Americans support Bush's threat to use force to disarm the Gulf nation, and the anti-war rallies were a far cry from the large, passionate protests during the Vietnam War years.
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