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Newsweek: Iraq Not Likely to Be Next Target by U.S. Military, Officials Say; Facilities in Somalia, Philippines May Be Next
NEWSWEEK In Newsweek's December 3 issue (on newsstands Monday, November 26), President George and Laura Bush talk about September 11 and the war in Afghanistan, in their first interview since the attacks. Newsweek reconstructs the final minutes of Flight 93, as passengers tried to overpower their hijackers, with new information provided by informed sources who described in detail the words and sounds on the cockpit voice recorder. Plus: the military effort, and Hollywood's push for war movies. (PRNewsFoto)[TK] NEW YORK, NY USA 11/25/2001
NEW YORK, Nov. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Well-placed U.S. officials tell Newsweek that Iraq's Saddam Hussein is not likely to feel the full wrath of America's military power any time soon. More likely to be targeted next in the terror campaign are facilities in Somalia or even the Philippines, reports National Security Correspondent John Barry in the December 3 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, November 26). (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20011125/HSSA007 ) The Navy has been running reconnaissance flights over Somalia, where it is believed Al Qaeda may have at least one training camp. And the United States already has a handful of Special Forces in the Philippines that are attempting to help President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's government fight the Al Qaeda-backed insurgency there. Unquestionably, say senior U.S. officials, there is a debate inside the Bush administration about how to deal with Saddam, but no final decision has been reached. "Everyone is agreed that Saddam Hussein poses a threat ... and that the U.S. should take more decisive action," says one source. "The question is, what action? The more you study the problem, the tougher it looks." One obstacle, writes Barry, is casting Saddam as a terrorist, as there is no hard evidence of ties between the aggressively secular Saddam and the Islamic fanatic Osama bin Laden, officials say. For now, the weight of opinion inside the administration is that "coercive diplomacy" aimed at trying to get U.N. inspectors back inside Iraq is the best first step.
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