WAR ON TERROR
Will Russia accept force
against Iraq?
Moscow official warns answer is emphatic no

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© 2002 WorldNetDaily.com


The Russian parliamentary chairman for international affairs says his nation will not accept the use of force against Iraq in the war on terrorism.

Dimitri Rogozin told the London Arabic-language daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat that Moscow is assisting Baghdad and strongly opposes any use of force against Iraq, despite its international provocations.

"We are helping Iraq, and we will not accept anyone seeking to use military force against it," he said in an interview translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute. "We are strongly opposed to the sanctions and maintain that they have outlived their usefulness and have proven nothing. ... As you will recall, Russia was opposed to the so-called 'smart sanctions' during the U.N. Security Council discussions on them last year. But we would like Iraq to act with greater wisdom in the current situation. Why did [Saddam Hussein] have to establish a memorial to the woman who blew herself up in Jerusalem? This tactic is wrong. There is no need to provoke America. ... We maintain that it is Iraq's obligation to be wiser and more moderate in its foreign policy. ..."

The Russian official also warned Hussein that Moscow's patience with him is waning.

"Today, we are the only country that uses its veto in the Security Council in favor of Iraq," he said. "But this situation cannot continue in the long term without Iraq understanding what we have done for it. We aspire today to defend Iraq at every conference and in official and unofficial talks. But [Iraq] cannot agree with Saddam Hussein's inflexible behavior. He must not arouse others' anger at him when he can refrain from doing so. For this reason, I think that the Arab world faces a tremendous task – persuading the Iraqi leadership to adopt a more balanced and reasonable line. Iraq's rivals are eagerly anticipating any pretext [to attack it], so there must be no such pretexts. ..."

Rogozin said the U.S. will have to sacrifice 100,000 soldiers in a bid to topple Hussein.

"... The removal of Saddam Hussein's regime will not be accomplished with missiles and bombs," he said. "It requires a large ground operation, and it should be kept in mind that this operation will not be like Desert Storm – which was comical because they did not take Baghdad. They were not capable of taking it without bleeding a lot. If the Americans want to eliminate Saddam Hussein, they must be willing to sacrifice some 100,000 Americans. America is not willing to do that. For this reason, any venture against Iraq will be nothing more than idiotic muscle-flexing."