Monday October 8, 06:26 PM

Iraqis fear being next target

By Hassan Hafidh

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqis have denounced the Western military campaign against Afghanistan with many fearing their country could be the next target of U.S. retaliation.

"U.S. aggression on Afghanistan is one form of organised terrorism," said Babel, the newspaper of President Saddam Hussein's son Uday. The United States and its allies will fail in Afghanistan as they did in Vietnam, Somalia and in their aggression and sanctions on Iraq."

A senior Iraqi MP said Washington might next attack Iraq.

"We expect America to attack (more) Arab and Muslim countries and Iraq could be one them," Abdul-Saheb Nasir told Reuters. "But they should know that Iraq is now much stronger than it was in the 1991 Gulf War."

Iraq's National Assembly condemned the strikes on Afghanistan, calling them unjustified, illegal and immoral.

"The U.S. is launching a criminal aggression against a Muslim nation and a Muslim people who...are the poorest among all the world's countries and peoples," the parliament said in a statement carried by the official Iraqi News Agency (INA).

The assembly said the strikes contravened international law and the United States attacked Afghanistan without presenting convincing evidence to all countries of the world.

U.S. and British forces bombed targets in Afghanistan on Sunday opening a military campaign against Osama bin Laden, prime suspect for the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, and the ruling Taliban.

THREAT TO WORLD PEACE

The Iraqi assembly said stability could be achieved by recognising people's rights, especially the Palestinians', lifting sanctions and halting aggression against Iraq.

"History testifies that America...and its strategic ally Israel have been threatening world peace and security for more than five decades," it said, accusing them of "adopting terrorism" to achieve their objectives.

Iraq has denied any link to bin Laden or the suspected suicide attackers on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

Saddam convened an emergency cabinet as soon as Washington began its strikes on Sunday. "America might increase the use of force and include other countries, according to its will and to settle scores," he said in a statement.

Some senior U.S. officials and legislators have advocated attacking Iraq as part of the "war on terrorism" declared by Washington, which has Iraq on its official list of state "sponsors of terrorism".

The United States led a multi-national force in 1991 which drove Iraqi occupation troops out of Kuwait. U.S. and British warplanes regularly raid Iraqi targets in "no-fly" zones covering large swathes of Iraqi territory.

Iraqis expressed sympathy with the people of Afghanistan.

"I feel sorry for them. The Afghan people are experiencing the same thing we did in 1991," taxi driver Abu Ahmed said.

"Thank God it is not us this time, but who knows, we might be next," Ali Khalil, a school teacher, said.

Kareem Hamza, a labour union official said: "Attacking Afghanistan and surely killing innocent people is not the right way for the United States to react."

-- Anonymous, October 08, 2001

Answers

If the people of Iraq would just take care of the little problem they have there with their government and the like, they would have nothing to fear. Seems like it is the government that is afraid. Tis a shame..... NOT!

-- Anonymous, October 09, 2001