Bush, Strongly Hint Attack on Iraq

February 13th. U.S. President George W. Bush strongly hinted that there could be a military attack on Iraq to eradicate its president Sadam Hussein.

Consequently, the possibility of a U.S. attack on Iraq, one of the three nations marked as the `axis of evil` by Mr. Bush in his State of the Union Address, is becoming more real.

At a press conference after his meeting with the Pakistani leader President Pervez Musharraf, Mr. Bush responded to the question whether he is considering military attacks against Iraq, "If necessary, we will take whatever measures needed to protect our citizens." and did not exclude the possibility of mounting an attack.

In connection to this, the British daily `The Guardian` reported on the 14th that the U.S. Department of Defense and the CIA are preparing to launch an attack on Iraq to topple President Hussein.

The Guardian reported on the day, "A blueprint for attack on Iraq based on the emergency measure drafted by the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff has been prepared. The U.S. plans to attack Iraq through Kuwait and deploy 20,000 troops." based on U.S. and ally nations` diplomatic sources.

The U.S. daily Philadelphia Inquirer reported, "Most recently, the CIA submitted a plan for toppling the Hussein regime to President Bush. The plan contains large-scale covert operations, facility destruction, intelligence gathering, and air attacks on southern and northern no-fly zones in Iraq." citing the words of a high-ranking CIA official. The Guardian also reported similar content, citing the contacts in the CIA.

Eun-Taek Hong euntack@donga.com