To Saddam:"Don't F&*#@ with the United Kingdom

[Ripsnort]

Good for the UK! Showing some backbone! Finger to those in the UK that whined about the treatment of the prisoners too.

BRITAIN would be ready to make a nuclear strike
                                 against states such as Iraq if they used weapons of
                                 mass destruction against British forces, Geoff Hoon,
                                 the Defence Secretary, told MPs yesterday.

                                 He issued his warning as officials in Washington and
                                 London privately predicted that military action to try
                                 to topple Saddam Hussein was likely to be launched
                                 at the end of the year.

                                 Mr Hoon was briefing the Commons defence select
                                 committee on the threat posed by four countries
                                 Britain had identified as "states of concern": Iraq,
                                 Iran, Libya and North Korea.

                                 He said that Saddam had already used chemical
                                 weapons against his own people. The possibility
                                 that rogue states would be prepared to use such
                                 weapons again, possibly sacrificing their own
                                 population, could not be ruled out.

                                 He said that dictators such as Saddam "can be
                                 absolutely confident that in the right conditions we
                                 would be willing to use our nuclear weapons.

                                 "What I cannot be absolutely confident about is
                                 whether that would be sufficient to deter them from
                                 using a weapon of mass destruction in the first
                                 place."

                                 Mr Hoon's willingness to confirm readiness to use
                                 nuclear weapons in such circumstances was seen at
                                 Westminster as a clear sign that the Government is
                                 becoming more alarmed that Saddam is developing
                                 chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.

                                 A joint Ministry of Defence and Foreign Office paper
                                 to the committee said it was a "serious cause for
                                 concern" that states were developing a ballistic
                                 missile capability at the same time as they were
                                 seeking to acquire weapons of mass destruction.

                                 Mr Hoon said that Britain could come within range of
                                 missiles fired from the Middle East within the "next
                                 few years".

                                 Although Mr Hoon later denied in the Commons that
                                 any decision had been taken on military action
                                 against Iraq, his comments about the nuclear
                                 deterrent will add to Labour MPs' concern that such
                                 preparations are being actively considered.

                                 His forthrightness was unexpected, because many
                                 Labour MPs are opposed to retaining nuclear
                                 weapons.

                                 In the 1980s Labour was unilateralist and Tony Blair
                                 was briefly a member of the Campaign for Nuclear
                                 Disarmament, although as party leader he has
                                 backed the nuclear deterrent.

                                 Mr Hoon's comments follow similar noises from
                                 America. Two weeks ago a leaked Pentagon policy
                                 document laid out the possibility of a "devastating
                                 response" to the use of biological or chemical
                                 weapons against American troops.

                                 The Prime Minister intends to use the large
                                 deployment of British fighting forces to Afghanistan
                                 as a political lever to push President Bush into
                                 seeking United Nations approval for any military
                                 action against Iraq.

                                 He supports Mr Bush in his campaign to remove
                                 Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and topple
                                 Saddam, but wants to broaden the front.

                                 Downing Street hopes the deployment to
                                 Afghanistan of 1,700 British troops, led by 45
                                 Commando the Royal Marines, a unit specialising in
                                 Arctic warfare, will strengthen his position when he
                                 meets Mr Bush at his Texas ranch after Easter.

                                 "The speed and size of the deployment to
                                 Afghanistan is a cheque that Blair will cash in," a
                                 source said. "He will tell Bush that he needs to carry
                                 the international community with him."

                                 The Foreign Office, in particular, is deeply worried
                                 about the impact that a war in Iraq would have on
                                 the Middle East. But it appears to have been
                                 overruled by Mr Blair.

                                 "The Prime Minister thinks Saddam poses a threat
                                 that has to be met with a strong response," a
                                 source said. "He is feeling gung-ho."

                                 Whitehall officials said that America first made its
                                 request for commandos at the height of Operation
                                 Anaconda this month in a "panicky" response to the
                                 unexpectedly fierce resistance Taliban and al-Qa'eda
                                 fighters put up in the mountains south of Kabul.

                                 The United States suffered its biggest casualties of
                                 the war on the opening day of Anaconda, when
                                 eight Americans and at least three Afghan allies
                                 were killed.

                                 This week America said Anaconda had been
                                 successful, but British officials privately spoke of "a
                                 near disaster" and said many guerrillas appeared to
                                 have slipped away despite American claims to have
                                 killed hundreds of the enemy.

                                 Dick Cheney, the American vice-president, headed
                                 home yesterday after an 11-day tour of the Middle
                                 East in which he received little support for an attack
                                 on Iraq. Instead he was urged to do more to end
                                 the fighting between Israel and the Palestinians.

                                 As Iraq gloated about Mr Cheney's "bitter
                                 disappointment", the Turkish prime minister, Bulent
                                 Ecevit, said he felt greatly relieved that Washington
                                 was not planning imminent action against Iraq.

                                 "This does not mean an operation has been ruled
                                 out," he said. "But I do not think there could be
                                 military action in the coming few months."

[NHFoxtro]

Within the next 6-8months they will envoke the draft. Unless there is enough volunteers? It seems to me that we are spreading ourselves out quite a bit.

I Don't expect Saddam to run this time,I think he has learned from his past mistakes, and is fortifying his plans and defence. I also believe that he will attack first with chemical weapons.

[Swoop]

Britain and Iraq have been facing off since WW2.


In 1964, I believe, the then ruler of Iraq deployed troops along the Kuwaiti border and made loud noises about the sovereignty of Kuwait.  In response, 42 Commando Royal Marines, along with elements of the SBS and SAS were deployed immediately to Kuwait as a show of strength.  The Iraqi's then withdrew.......only to return 27 years later.

They'll be back......and we'll be waiting for em.

[qts]

Actually, I believe UK planes are currently patrolling the no-fly zones over Iraq at the moment.

[Sikboy]

This is very interesting to me. I think I recall the french making similar statements during the 91 gulf war. I had a professor who suggested that what might have kept Iraq from using Chem/Bio weapons was a suggestion by US diplomats that the US would not change the war aims to include regime change in Iraq, UNLESS they used WMD. Before the citation goblins come running, lets just call this hypothetical (since, after all, I have no citations to give). I remember some people thinking that Kim Il Sung might be zonkers enought to use WMD from his death bed (the again, we were in Japan at the time, and given to paranoia). But none the less, I do wonder if Iraq might use WMD if faced with imenent regime change? "take one for the team" as it were.  

-Sikboy

[~Caligula~]

Saddam will not hesitate to use all he`s got.He knows he will be going down this time ,no matter what,and we all know he doesn`t give a sh*t about anybody ,that includes he`s own people.
Off course Iraq will be nuked,and countless millions will die and suffer on both sides.
That dipshit should have been dealt and done away with in `91,now it will be a lot bloodier time.

Electric funeral.....what a shame on the human race to let all this happen.

[Ripsnort]

Originally posted by ~Caligula~
Saddam will not hesitate to use all he`s got.He knows he will be going down this time ,no matter what,and we all know he doesn`t give a sh*t about anybody ,that includes he`s own people.
Off course Iraq will be nuked,and countless millions will die and suffer on both sides.
That dipshit should have been dealt and done away with in `91,now it will be a lot bloodier time.

Electric funeral.....what a shame on the human race to let all this happen.

Look at the bright side, we always wanted that area for a nice big parking lot, but alas, we won't be able to "park" anything there for a few hundred years..

[Tac]

dang. I guess the gasoline i'll put into my car in a few years time will have a heavier isotope and glow in the dark yes?

Frankly, it would be much better to just snipe saddam's head off the face of the earth instead of "deposing" him.

[Sikboy]

I don't really see who taking him out in 1991 would have been any easier. His WMD capability was greater in 1991 (as far as we know anyhow) and if he were hell-bent on staying in power, his use of WMD would have been just as likely then as now.  We might even have a better time of it now, since we've had Iraq as World Enemy #1 for the last 10 years, I firmly believe our intel is much more accurate at this point. I think it would have been a mistake to invade in 1991. If you're talking about regime change through covert means, well, that's a different story.

-Sikboy

[~Caligula~]

Look at the bright side, we always wanted that area for a nice big parking lot, but alas, we won't be able to "park" anything there for a few hundred years..

I belive Iraq has much archeological treasure of the world wich will be destroyed as well.
The sad part is: Saddam will survive all that,he`s gonna kick it in he`s underground nuke-safe bunker,and western soldiers will have to wade trough radioactive ruins to smoke him out of he`s hole.
It all reminds me to Hitler and all the chance the west had to stop him,but waited untill it was too late.
Saddam will be a lot tougher opponent this time.