Iraq: US will learn grave lesson
Iraq has again denied it has weapons of mass destruction, but said it will still teach the United States an unforgettable lesson if launches an attack.
"I am in charge of the weapons programmes and I am saying here and now that we do not have weapons of mass destruction and we do not have programmes to develop them," Minister of Military Industrialisation Abdel Tawab Mullah Huweish said in Baghdad today.
And asked about the possibility of a US strike, he said: "If the Americans commit a new stupidity, we will teach them a lesson that they will not forget."
Iraqi officials have repeatedly denied they are working on nuclear weapons. US intelligence agencies do not believe Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein has developed any, but thinks he may by 2010.
Asked what Iraq could do to match the American military superiority in the event of any attack, he said: "They will concentrate on air strikes to destroy our infrastructure, but when they are on the ground they will not be able to move even one inch."
"We are peaceful people but when we fight we fight fiercely because we are defending our existence, our heritage and our future," he said.
