US general: Iraq war still avoidable
The US military’s top general insisted today that war withIraq can still be avoided.
He also declined to portray January 27, the due date of a report by U.N. weapons inspectors, as a deadline.
Asked at a news conference in Rome if war can still be avoided, Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, replied: “Absolutely yes. Nobody I know, no rational person I know or I associate with wants war.”
In chairman, Myers serves as President George W. Bush’s principal military adviser.
“Certainly there has been no decision on the U.S. part for conflict in Iraq,” Myers said, stressing however, that Baghdad, to avoid war, must take advantage of “its last chance” by abiding by the U.N. resolution to disarm.
“There is no doubt Iraq still has chemical and biological weapons and a great interest in nuclear weapons,” Myers said.
On Thursday, U.N. weapons inspectors said they found empty chemical warheads in a military storage area in Iraq.
Asked if war was now closer now than a few days ago because of recent developments, Myers insisted it was not.
He said officials were waiting to see the report to the U.N. Security Council, due on January 27, on Iraq’s cooperation and the findings of inspectors trying to determine the truth of Baghad’s claim it no longer has weapons of mass destruction.
Despite reports that the US administration is eager to launch an attack, January 27 “has never been portrayed to me as a deadline” to decide on going to war, the general said.
Many US allies have been pushing for more time to let inspectors do their work. The general indicated there was ”enough flexibility” in the U.S. military’s plans to deal with a possibly longer timeframe for the start of any war.
The US military buildup in the Persian Gulf region, he also said, is aimed at bolstering diplomatic efforts to persuade Baghdad to disarm, and should not be taken as proof that war is inevitable.
Myers refused to speculate how long any conflict might last, saying, “There’s no way to know for certain how potential conflict may play out.”
