MIDDLE EAST: Iraq should not repeat old mistakes, says UAE paper

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Att.Editors: The following item is by the United Arab Emirates news agency (WAM)

ABU DHABI, Mar 19 2003 (IPS) - A United Arab Emirates (UAE) newspaper today commented on the US ultimatum, which was totally rejected by President Saddam Hussein of Iraq.

Commenting editorially on the issue, the Dubai-based ‘Gulf News’ said: – President George W. Bush gave Saddam Hussain and his sons 48 hours to leave Iraq from yesterday morning.

ôThe Bush administration has abandoned diplomacy, and most of the international community, and it is going ahead with the war against Iraq that it has been planning for months.

ôIt is being accompanied in this by Britain, as well as a few other states with minor support. But even at this late hour Bush has said that if Saddam leaves Iraq, there is a chance for peace.

ôBut the offer is apparently intended to be refused, as it has been put to him as US and other troops move into place for the first assaults.

ôThe UAE made the same proposal in a manner far more likely to succeed since it was without the threat of massive force, but even that did not get the hearing it deserved in Baghdad.

ôNo one disputes that Iraq should fully comply with UN demands and move to disarm. It is the wish of everyone in the Middle East to see the stand-off resolved peacefully and the Iraqi people be saved from further destruction.

ôThey have suffered from both regular and continuous assaults from the US and Britain, as well as from Saddam’s repression for more than two decades.

ôSaddam may have drawn some hope from two international political movements. The first was the anti-war demonstrations which have been held in most major cities around the world over the past two weeks, and the second was the drive by France, Germany and Russia to give Baghdad more time to manage a peaceful disarmament.

ôWhile Arabs and all peace-loving nations wished to see these rays of hope materialize into a full diplomatic solution to the crisis, Saddam could not count on it in the past, and now that Bush has given him 48 hours, it has become completely irrelevant.

ôThe only way that Saddam can save his country from war and destruction is to show complete compliance and cooperation with the United Nations, and to do his best to save his people and country.

ôNonetheless, Bush’s actions have disregarded the powers of the United Nations, despite his protestations that he is revitalizing the institution. The worldwide power of the United Nations is dependent on the common principle of every country sharing in and accepting the results of the decision making process.

ôThe domineering disregard the US has shown the Security Council will have terrible effects for many years to come. Saddam’s fiery rhetoric through the current crisis has only poured oil on the fire. He is making the same mistake he made during the 1991 Gulf War, when his forces were crushed by a US-led international coalition.

ôSaddam is not in a position to set conditions or warnings, but he still can resort to logic for once and think of his collapsing nation. Not a single Arab wants Iraq to be invaded and its government to be destroyed by a foreign power.

ôFor this reason, it is time for Saddam to make a genuine gesture to convince the UN of his full cooperation," concluded the paper.