US-Britische Offensive gegen Irak, beginnt 24 Std. nach Azoren Gipfel? - 500 Beiträge pro Seite

[ThaiGuru]

Wenn man der Meldung von http://www.debka.com/ glauben darf, beginnt der Irak Krieg innerhalb der nächsten 24 Stunden!!!!!!



http://www.debka.com/

Last Updated on March 16, 2003, 10:51 PM (GMT+02:00)

HEADLINES

Israeli hospitals told to complete sealing process of wards and facilities by Monday morning. Sunday noon, Israel’s First-Aid rescue service Magen David Adom moved command and communications centers to bomb-proof shelters

DEBKAfile’s Military Sources: Full-scale US-British offensive against Iraq is scheduled to begin Monday, 24 hours after Azores summit

First stage: Combined bomber-missile strikes against strategic targets, including government centers, military and civilian communications systems, radio and television broadcasting centers, transport hubs.

Preparations wind up Sunday night to fly and parachute ground troops into Iraq from launching bases in and outside Middle East. US 82nd Airborne Division will be flown in from Afghanistan

At Azores summit, Blair promised Bush British 1st armored division would take part in assault on Basra, vitally augmenting allied southern advance

World has another 24 hours to see if diplomacy will work – Bush at end of Azores summit Sunday with British and Spanish prime ministers. Three leaders declared Security Council Resolution 1441 provided last opportunity for Saddam Hussein to disarm or face serious consequences.

They issued final appeal to international community to issue last strong, unified ultimatum for Saddam’s immediate unconditional disarmament. Bush: He can avert war by leaving Iraq.

Blair pledges protection of Iraq’s territorial integrity. He declared natural resources will remain property of people of Iraq

Earlier Sunday, Chirac`s proposal of 30-day deadline for arms inspections rejected instantly by US vice president Cheney: Further delay helps no-one but Saddam Hussein

[posthuman]

Ist diese Meldung wieder geheim, oder darf ich sie diesmal weitererzählen?

[ThaiGuru]

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=UAU2BPK2…



Bush Says Iraq Diplomacy Ends on Monday

Sun March 16, 2003 05:58 PM ET

By Steve Holland



LAJES AIRBASE, Azores (Reuters) - President Bush said on Sunday the United Nations has only one more day to find a diplomatic end to the Iraq crisis before the United States moves to a war footing.

"We concluded that tomorrow is a moment of truth for the world,"

Bush said after an emergency summit with the leaders of Britain, Spain and Portugal on the windswept Azores Islands in the eastern Atlantic.

Bush said the U.N. Security Council must agree on Monday on a new resolution authorizing war against Iraq.

He left no doubt that the United States and its like-minded allies would otherwise move to invade Iraq without U.N. backing.

"Tomorrow`s the day that we will determine whether or not diplomacy can work," Bush said.

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein vowed that his country would fight back "anywhere in the world" if invaded.

"When the enemy opens the war on a large scale, it should realize that the battle between us will be waged wherever there is sky, earth and water anywhere in the world,"

he said in comments reported by the state news agency only minutes after Bush had finished speaking.

Bush, pursuing a global "war against terror" in the wake of the September 11 attacks on the United States, branded Saddam a sponsor of terrorism and again demanded that he surrender his alleged weapons of mass destruction or be disarmed by force.

Iraq denies possessing nuclear, chemical or biological arms.

Prime Ministers Jose Maria Aznar of Spain and Tony Blair of Britain said one final round of diplomatic contacts would be made on Monday, in a last-ditch effort to win agreement on an ultimatum for Saddam.

Diplomatic analysts said the leaders` statements sounded like the start of a countdown to war -- irrespective of whether agreement could be reached at the deeply divided United Nations.

"If I were an Iraqi, I would be waiting for the bombs to start falling any time from tomorrow night," said Rosemary Hollis of the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London.

"The message Bush was sending to Saddam was, `Forget it, we`re coming to get you`," said British analyst Toby Dodge.

There seemed little chance of reaching agreement in the U.N. Security Council, where France and Russia want weapons inspectors to have more time and have vowed to veto any resolution that could be seen as authorizing war.

Blair challenged U.N. members to make their mind up "overnight" on a second resolution over Iraq, but expressed little hope an 11th-hour consensus could be reached.

"It is difficult to know how we can resolve this," Blair told reporters on his plane back to London.

Bush appeared to be allowing diplomacy one more day in an attempt to give Blair and Aznar political cover to say all diplomatic options had been exhausted. Both face bitter opposition at home to war.

The three leaders were to make a flurry of phone calls to Security Council members in a last-ditch effort to seek an international consensus.

But U.S. officials said the resolution could be withdrawn with no vote if it was headed for clear defeat at the United Nations.


WAR PREPARATIONS

U.S. officials said the president was prepared to deliver a nationally televised address warning Americans of the coming war as early as Monday, serving Saddam a final ultimatum and giving humanitarian workers and journalists time to leave Iraq.

In Washington, Vice President Dick Cheney told CBS` "Face the Nation" program that a war would be quick: "I think it will go relatively quickly.... Weeks rather than months."

Bush said war could be avoided if Saddam would go into exile. "Saddam can leave the country, if he`s interested in peace," he said.

But the Iraqi leader was bracing for invasion, 12 years after the first Gulf War which drove his occupying troops from Kuwait but left his grip on power intact. Earlier on Sunday he divided Iraq into four military districts under his command to prepare for attack by a quarter of a million U.S. and British troops massed in the Gulf region.

Saddam again denied having banned weapons and called the United States "the unjust judge of the world."

In Kuwait, the staging ground for any assault on Iraq, a government official said he believed war would start within 10 days. Information Minister Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahd al-Sabah told a news conference: "I think war is quite near."

Jeremy Batstone, head of research at NatWest stockbrokers in London, said financial markets would brace for a mid-week assault on Iraq.

"The initial reaction in the market on Monday is that the oil price will go higher, we will see the dollar weaken, bond prices rise, and the equity markets will lose some of the strength that we saw over the course of Thursday and Friday, although volumes will be extremely thin," he said.

DIPLOMATIC MOVES

Bush, Blair and Aznar came to the Azores facing global anti-war protests and a failure thus far to attract nine votes on the 15-nation Security Council for a new resolution that could provide important moral backing for war, even if the French or Russians vetoed the measure.

"Maybe it`s a small chance, a small possibility, but even if it`s one in 1 million, it`s always worthwhile fighting for a political solution," said Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Manuel Durao Barroso, the summit host.

Bush, Blair and Aznar showed little interest in signals from France that it could accept a 30-day or 60-day limit on U.N. weapons inspections. "Without a credible ultimatum authorizing force in the event of non-compliance, then more discussion is just more delay," Blair said.

Bush specifically criticized the French for their veto threat.

"France showed their cards," he said. "So cards have been played. And we`ll just have to take an assessment after tomorrow to determine what that card meant."


POST-SADDAM IRAQ

The summit leaders emphasized their comment to rebuild a post-Saddam Iraq, in comments that diplomatic analysts took as a further sign of the inevitability of war.

"I think it`s amazing that Bush didn`t actually mention the war. Instead he leapt straight to the need for reconstruction and the need for U.N. involvement in that," said British analyst Dodge.

The leaders said they were committed to the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel -- addressing critics who have accused the United States of focusing on Iraq to the detriment of Middle East peacemaking.

They released a separate statement calling for transatlantic unity, urging "our friends and allies to put aside differences and work together."

[ThaiGuru]

http://www.ftd.de/pw/in/1047819366564.html?nv=hptn

Aus der FTD vom 17.3.2003

Bush stellt Uno letztes Ultimatum

Von Hubert Wetzel, Washington, James Harding, James Blitz, Lajes

US-Präsident George W. Bush gibt dem Uno-Sicherheitsrat noch einen Tag, um über eine zweite Resolution zu entscheiden, die einen Krieg gegen Irak autorisieren soll. "Montag ist der Moment der Wahrheit für die Welt", sagte Bush am Sonntag nach dem kurzfristig anberaumten Gipfeltreffen mit Großbritanniens Premier Tony Blair und Spaniens Regierungschef José María Aznar auf der portugiesischen Azoreninsel Terceira.

George W. Bush, Tony Blair, Jose Maria Aznar stimmen ihre Irak-Politik ab. (AP)

"Morgen ist der Tag, an dem wir entscheiden, ob die Diplomatie funktioniert oder nicht", sagte Bush. Bush, Blair und Aznar hatten sich auf den Azoren getroffen, um über das weitere Vorgehen im Sicherheitsrat zu beraten. Die drei Länder hatten dort den Entwurf für eine Kriegsresolution vorgelegt, die Irak eine Frist bis Montag setzen sollte. Bisher konnten Washington, London und Madrid aber nicht die nötige Neun-Stimmen-Mehrheit für das Dokument bekommen. Zudem kündigten Frankreich und Russland ein Veto an. Sollte sich am Montag keine Mehrheit für eine Kriegsresolution finden, wollen die Kriegsbefürworter die Suche nach einer Lösung der Irak-Krise innerhalb der Uno einstellen.

US-Vertreter hatten ausdrücklich betont, das Treffen auf den Azoren sei kein "Kriegsrat". Die Frage sei, "ob es Zeit ist, den Vorhang fallen zu lassen, oder ob es Hoffnung (auf eine Einigung im Sicherheitsrat) gibt", sagte US-Außenminister Colin Powell vor dem Gipfel.

Resolution völkerrechtlich "nicht unabdingbar"

Nach Ansicht Washingtons legitimiert bereits die Abrüstungsresolution 1441 vom vergangenen November Militäraktionen gegen Irak. Aznar sagte am Sonntag, eine zweite Resolution, die Krieg ausdrücklich billigt, sei zwar "politisch wünschenswert", völkerrechtlich jedoch "nicht unabdingbar".

Saddam Hussein könne einen Krieg noch verhindern, wenn er das Land verlasse, sagte Bush. Der Präsident sprach auch von US-Plänen für den Wiederaufbau Iraks. Dabei will Bush weiter mit der Uno zusammenarbeiten.

Uno-Helikopter abgezogen

Im Weißen Haus wird Medienberichten zufolge bereits an einer Rede gearbeitet, die Bush kurz nach der Entscheidung, die Diplomatie zu beenden, halten soll. Dem Vernehmen nach wird der Präsident Bagdad darin ein wenige Tage kurzes Ultimatum setzen, das Ausländern in Irak noch die Abreise ermöglichen soll.

Powell riet bereits am Sonntag Ausländern dazu, Bagdad zu verlassen. Die Bundesregierung forderte alle deutschen Staatsbürger auf, sofort aus Irak abzureisen. Nach Angaben aus Bagdad hat auch der Versicherungskonzern, der die Hubschrauber der Uno-Inspektoren versichert hat, die Policen gekündigt. Ein Teil der Helikopterflotte sei daher aus Irak abgezogen worden, hieß es.

US-Vizepräsident Richard Cheney ließ am Sonntag kaum noch Zweifel daran, dass Washington die Diplomatie für gescheitert hält:

"Es ist klar, dass Präsident Bush in den nächsten Tagen sehr, sehr schwierige und wichtige Entscheidungen wird fällen müssen."

Chiracs Vorschlag abgewiesen

Cheney wies auch den Vorschlag von Frankreichs Präsident Jacques Chirac zurück, Irak eine Frist von 30 Tagen einzuräumen, um seine Bereitschaft zur Abrüstung zu beweisen. Bisher hatte Paris jede Art von Ultimatum strikt abgelehnt. In Interviews mit den US-Fernsehsendern CNN und CBS sagte Chirac am Sonntag jedoch, Frankreich sei bereit, die Fortsetzung der Waffeninspektionen zu befristen, sofern die Kontrolleure dies forderten.

Das US-Verteidigungsministerium will Militärexperten zufolge einen Angriff in der Sommerhitze vermeiden und steht daher unter Zeitdruck. Die USA sind nicht bereit, Irak ein längeres Ultimatum als sieben bis zehn Tage einzuräumen - und auch das nur dann, wenn sie dafür eine Neun-Stimmen-Mehrheit im Sicherheitsrat bekommen. Erst am Freitag hatte das Weiße Haus einen Vorschlag Chiles für eine neue Uno-Resolution abgeschmettert, demzufolge Irak fünf Abrüstungsziele vorgegeben und zur Erfüllung eine Frist von 30 Tagen gesetzt werden sollte. Irak hatte am Samstag den Kriegszustand ausgerufen und das Land in Militärbezirke aufgeteilt.

© 2003 Financial Times Deutschland , © Illustration: AP

[ThaiGuru]

Saddam droht mit weltweitem Krieg

Iraks Diktator Saddam Hussein will bei einem US-Militärschlag die Konfrontation auf die gesamte Welt ausweiten. Das meldete die amtliche irakische Nachrichtenagentur INA. Sollte Washington den Irak angreifen, würde die Schlacht in „allen Teilen der Welt“ ausgetragen werden, sagte Saddam am Sonntag.

[siam123]

@ThaiGuru ,

Du hast eine Bordmail

mfG ,

siam123

[its_toemmes]

schade, ich dachte heut gehts los...