IRAQ-U.S.: Powell Argues for War, Dismisses Humanitarian Disaster Talk

By Emad Mekay Reprint | | Print |

Emad Mekay

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 27 2003 (IPS) - U.S. Secretary of State Collin Powell shrugged accusations Sunday that U.S. lacks evidence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and it has little consideration for a possible humanitarian disaster that could ensue after the threatened war.

U.S. Secretary of State Collin Powell shrugged accusations Sunday that U.S. lacks evidence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and it has little consideration for a possible humanitarian disaster that could ensue after the threatened war.

Powell also said the U.S. was ready to go to war alone if necessary.

”We will not shrink from war if that is the only way to rid Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction,” Powell told businesses executives and some officials gathered here at the World Economic Forum.

”We continue to reserve our sovereign right to take military action against Iraq alone or in a collation of the willing,” he said.

Powell, who was trying to ease concerns among European allies that there is not enough evidence to justify a war against Iraq and that the inspection process needs more time, said the UN resolution actually says that the onus was actually on Iraq to come clean and not the U.S.

U.S. European allies, like Germany and France, have been reluctant to join the U.S. in its military plans and said that the weapons inspectors in Iraq should be given more time to dig out those weapons the U.S. says Iraq has.

”Saddam should tell the truth now,” Powell said. ”To those who say, ‘why not give the inspections process more time?’ I ask: how much more time does Iraq need,” he said.

”Iraq attempted to conceal with volume what it lacked in veracity. It has failed the test.”

Powell said there was no evidence that Iraq destroyed thousands of litres of anthrax and botulinum it had before. He also wanted Iraq to account for 30,000 munitions capable of carrying chemical agents saying that the inspectors could only account for only 16 of them.

Although Powell also said that Iraq imported three metric tons of growth material that could be used for producing biological agents, he didn’t say when Iraq did so and if the U.S. has any knowledge where they were.

A representative of Amnesty International challenged Powell, however, over whether a war with Iraq would justify the possible enormous humanitarian disaster that it will cause.

In 1991, millions of Iraqis and foreign workers in the Persian Gulf were forced to the borders of neighbouring countries creating a refugee problem after the U.S. and its allies started bombing Iraqi cities.

The interruption of basic service like electricity, clean water and sewerage system also lead to other many deaths in Iraq.

Earlier this month, UN officials warned that a military conflict in Iraq could trigger a major economic and humanitarian crisis in the already politically troubled region and would be felt well beyond Iraq’s borders.

But Powell countered that the U.S. was making ”contingency plans” to meet the expected humanitarian disaster of the war.

Powell did not, however, receive loud applause at the meeting, as did many others like when Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad criticised the U.S. for over-militarising the world.

But some of the participants said Powell’s message was balanced, ”soft and convincing”.

”I thought he was putting a persuasive case that we are in a war and you have to make tough decisions,” said James Robin, former spokesperson of the U.S. State Department.

”He also said that those of you who are worried about those decisions don’t seem to have any alternative. I thought he is very convincing.”

Even though Powell did not provide clear evidence of a nuclear or a chemical weapons programme in Iraq, as with North Korea – when a picture of a nuclear site was made available to TV networks – Robin and other attendees at the Davos Forum still defended the U.S. position on the ground that the Europeans were asking for too high a standard of evidence

”I think the only issue he had troubles with was the evidentiary standards,” Robin said. ”The Europeans have higher evidentiary standards and I think he handled that brilliantly. ”

Robin however admitted that the speech was not going to fundamentally change opinions in Europe. ”I think it will eliminate some of the doubts but I don’t know if it’ll change opinions,” Robin said.

Others said that the speech confirmed their view that war was the right course of action.

”My opinion was that if we have to do it, we’ll have to do it,” said Bernard Liautaud, CEO with the California-based Business Objects Americas. ”I now think the proof is there.”

Another American attending the meetings here said she now supports a war because she trusts U.S. leaders like Powell.

”Honestly, I am very happy that we have people in leadership roles who are willing to act as leaders,” said Wendy S. Kopp, President of the New York-based non-governmental organization Teach For America.

”Sometimes you have to lead and it’s clear to me that they have a lot of rational people at the administration (of U.S. President George W. Bush) who are looking at the whole thing very pragmatically,” she said.