America's Enemies: What
Will Bush Do About Iraq,
Iran and Libya?
By Cliff Kincaid
After President Bush ordered an air strike on the Iraqi air defense system, some said that this marked the beginning of a new and tougher policy toward Saddam Hussein. Then it became known that the strike occurred on a Muslim holy day when work on the site had stopped, and the Iraqi and Chinese workers were not there. It turned out that the Chinese were helping Saddam built his air defense system with fiber optic cable technology they obtained from the U.S. Then it turned out that many of the bombs we used on the site missed their targets or did little damage.
As if Bush didn't have enough to worry about in Iraq, the CBS Evening News reported that federal investigators believe they now know who planned and carried out the Khobar Towers attack in Saudi Arabia 4-and-a-half years ago, and are close to preparing a formal indictment naming some two dozen suspects - including at least one senior official in Iran. The truck bomb attack killed 19 U.S. Air Force personnel in 1996.
Sources told Stewart that several of the suspects are in Iran - including one identified as Ahmad Sherifi, a senior member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Stewart added, "The White House and Pentagon have been briefed on the case and when the final elements of the investigation are in place, Attorney General John Ashcroft is expected to present the findings to President Bush - who may face the difficult choice between legal actions and a military response." Stewart said some of the new emphasis on this case is in response to the recent attack on the USS Cole. The Iranian resistance movement, during a press conference in Washington back in 1997, had revealed the role of Ahmad Sharifi in the Khobar bombing. It said General Ahmad Sharifi is the commander of the Sixth Corps of the Revolutionary Guards, responsible for carrying out terrorist operations in the Persian Gulf countries.
In another terrorism case, the destruction of Pan Am 103, President Bush is also faced with a difficult decision. The Scottish court hearing the case recently convicted a Libyan intelligence officer, and the London Sunday Times disclosed that Gadhafi's brother-in-law, Abdullah al-Senussi, then head of Libyan intelligence, planned the bombing, and that Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi sanctioned it. The paper said British spies in Libya confirmed their role. After their meeting together, Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair issued a joint statement calling on Gadhafi to comply with U.N. resolutions regarding the Pan Am 103 terrorism case before sanctions on Libya would be lifted. Those resolutions require accepting responsibility and compensating the families of the victims. They would enable Gadhafi to survive and even prosper as a dictator.
But some American family members, including Susan Cohen, who lost her only child in the blast, want the U.S. to go further. She said Gadhafi himself should be indicted for the crime by the U.S. Department of Justice. Columnist David Hackworth says Bush should go even further, that the U.S. Air Force should start bombing a target in Libya every week or so, until the Libyan generals deliver up Gadhafi for trial. (30)
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