Iraq Denounces Bush’s ‘Evil Whims’ for War

Iraqi state television said Thursday night that President Bush’s speech to the United Nations exposed “evil whims to ignite a war” and that Iraq will mount a “fierce and merciless fight against those who would dare to infringe on its security.”

There was little immediate public reaction to Bush’s speech among most ordinary Iraqis because it was not broadcast on Iraqi television or radio. The 9 p.m. television news, which aired about two hours after Bush finished speaking, made no mention of his address. Later, however, the station delivered a brief commentary.

“Regardless of the prattles delivered by Bush during his ignorant speech to the General Assembly, we say that Bush’s evil whims to ignite a war under the pretext of combating terrorism reflect his irresponsible attitude to humanity,” the statement said. It warned that any U.S. attack on Iraq would “lead the Mideast region into a state of turmoil and the United States will pay a high price because Iraq is not an easy prey.”

Satellite dishes that receive signals from CNN, the BBC and Arabic-language news station Al Jazeera are illegal here. Many educated Iraqis often follow world events by furtively listening to shortwave radios.

An Iraqi businessman who heard the speech on his small shortwave called Bush’s comments “American bullying.”

“It seems like he is saying, ‘We are going to attack you,’ ” said the man, who did not want his name or other identifying details printed out of concern about government retribution. “We would like to have changes in our system for sure. But we don’t want America to invade us and impose a government on us.”

U.S. arguments that Iraq’s alleged chemical and biological weapons could pose a threat to the United States are laughed off by many people here. “We do not have missiles that can travel for 7,000 miles,” the businessman said. “It’s hard for us to understand what America is so worried about. To us, it just looks like they want to control us and our oil.”

Saad Qassem Hammoudi, a senior official in Iraq’s ruling Baath party, dismissed Bush’s allegations as falsehoods.

“It is a collection of lies which aim at blackmailing public opinion in order to commit new American aggression against Iraq,” he said.

And Adil Badawi, a physician, said: “Oh my God, Bush, what do you want? Are you crazy? What are you saying? Iraq is the enemy of the world? America is the enemy of the world.” It was not clear whether Badawi had heard the speech or was commenting after hearing the Iraqi media report of Bush’s remarks.

Iraq asserts that all of its chemical and biological weapons have been destroyed and that its nuclear program is inactive.

U.N. inspectors left Iraq in 1998 after they were refused permission to search certain sites for evidence of weapons of mass destruction. Iraqi officials, who contend that the inspectors were working as spies, have forbidden them to return.

But a British academic said Thursday that he was told by Deputy Prime Minister Tarik Aziz in a 90-minute meeting Wednesday night that the Iraqi government is formulating an offer to the United Nations to permit the inspectors to come back.

In return, Aziz said, Iraq would like diplomats from Canada and South Africa to serve as independent arbiters of disputes between Iraq and the U.N. inspection commission, said the academic, Toby Dodge, a research fellow at the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London.

Iraqi officials could not be reached Thursday night to comment on Dodge’s account. U.S. and U.N. officials have said inspectors must return to Iraq without any conditions.

Meanwhile Thursday, a U.S. congressman skeptical of the need for military action against Iraq was en route to Baghdad.

Rep. Nick J. Rahall II (D-W.Va.), who was to arrive in the capital today, said he wants to reassure Iraqi citizens that Americans are “not out to wage war for war’s sake.”

“I’m not going as a secretary of State,” he said this week. “I’m not going as a weapons inspector. And I’m not calling upon this administration to do one thing or another. I just have a lot of questions.”

Rahall said he would urge Iraq to allow in U.N. weapons inspectors.

Among those accompanying Rahall is former Sen. James Abourezk (D-S.D.).