Deadline for Saddam passes; preparations amid sandstorms
White House: 'Good lines of communication' with Israel
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Members of U.S. Marine Air Control Squadron 16 gather around a bunker at their base camp Wednesday on an air base in the Gulf region.
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| PERSPECTIVE |
TIME.com's Scott McLeod writes in an article titled "What the Arab Silence Means": "Although they have no love for Saddam, no Arab government, with the exception of Kuwait's ruling Al Sabah family -- with its bitter memories of Iraq's 1990 invasion of their country -- supports the Bush administration's war against Iraq. That includes regimes with long-standing strategic relations with the U.S. like Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. Sure, these governments are discreetly helping with the U.S. military effort. But they are doing so only grudgingly, under American pressure. "Throughout the Arab world, you hear predictable warnings about the coming American colonialism. Officials say that the war is all about oil, or about protecting Israel. You see a lot of hand-wringing about the suffering of ordinary Iraqis. But the deepest Arab opposition to the war is motivated by something genuine and understandable: Arabs are afraid that America's war will lead to a catastrophe. 'Regardless of what people say,' Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al Faisal told me last month, 'the issues are never manageable, especially in such a complicated country as Iraq.' TIME.com
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Jordanian opposition to war in Iraq and frustration with U.S. policy.
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(CNN) -- With events moving closer to a possible war with Iraq, here is a look at some of the latest developments around the world:
ROAD TO WAR?
• EXILE DEADLINE PASSES: U.S. President Bush's deadline for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his sons to leave Iraq passed Wednesday night without any sign Saddam was prepared to accept exile over a U.S.-led military attack. "There is no evidence that Saddam Hussein has left the country," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said. "The disarmament will happen at the time of the president's choosing." One U.S. official said Bush has no problem with letting the Iraqi military "stare up at the sky for a little bit." (Full story)
• TROOPS PREPARE AMID SANDSTORM: Senior Pentagon officials have told President Bush that U.S. troops are ready to attack Iraq on his order -- an order that top officials say could come in just a few hours -- even as a major sandstorm strikes Kuwait. Winds of up to 20 mph have dramatically challenged visibility. The skies are expected to clear overnight, but CNN Meteorologist Chad Myers said that even stronger winds are forecast for Thursday. (Full story)
• BUSH TOLD TROOPS ARE READY: President Bush was told by senior Pentagon officials that U.S. troops are ready to attack Iraq on his orders, and senior officials say those orders could come as early as Wednesday night. But two senior officials also noted Bush's statement that the United States would attack "at a time of its choosing." One of the officials told CNN: "There is no magic to tomorrow night in terms of military action." (Full story)
• IRAQI PARLIAMENT DEFIANT: Speakers in the Iraqi parliament made a show of support for Saddam Hussein in an "extraordinary session" Wednesday, promising to fight to the end any "aggression" from the United States and its allies. (Full story)
WAR OF WORDS
• The White House said American victory will come with a price. "Americans should be prepared for what we hope will be as precise and short a conflict as possible," said White House press secretary Ari Fleischer. The United States is prepared to forcibly remove the regime of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, "but there are many unknowns," Fleischer said. "It could be a matter of some duration, we do not know. ... Americans have to be prepared for loss of life." (Full story)
• Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, speaking to the Italian Parliament:"Saddam Hussein is not the only autocrat in the world to possess arms of mass destruction of a chemical, bacteriological or a radioactive type. He's not the only one to have worked actively on a nuclear program, but he is the only one to have used those weapons on a large scale over a long history of aggression, military aggression, attacking his neighbors and his own people."
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• Saddam has rejected President Bush's ultimatum that he and his sons leave Iraq before early Thursday or face military action. A statement from the Revolutionary Command Council was broadcast on Iraqi television, saying the Iraqi regime "denounced the reckless ultimatum directed by American President George Bush." It said Iraq is ready to confront a U.S.-led attack. By asking Saddam and his sons to leave the country, Bush "had the hope that he will achieve his evil objectives without fighting through his announcement," which had an air of "isolation and defeat," the council's statement said. (Full story)
IMPACT
• Pope John Paul II made yet another appeal for peace Wednesday. The pope has become one of the strongest antiwar voices in the past several weeks, relentlessly campaigning for peace as tensions flared. "As a man of peace, we pray to St. Joseph for those threatened by war and we invoke the precious gift of harmony upon the whole human family," John Paul told the crowd gathered in St. Peter's Square for the weekly papal speech.
• The NCAA men's basketball tournament will tip off this week as scheduled, even if the nation is at war with Iraq. NCAA President Myles Brand said officials reached that decision Tuesday after extensive consultations with Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and other law enforcement authorities about security concerns surrounding the games. "We know of no reason not to go forward," he said. "The overriding consideration was that we were not going to let a tyrant determine how we were going to lead our lives." (Full story)
EDITOR'S NOTE: CNN's policy is to not report information that puts operational security at risk.
The
Associated Press &
Reuters contributed to this report.
