- WASHINGTON (CNN) -- One of
the Pentagon's leading advocates of toppling Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein
said Saturday that quick action was needed to limit Hussein's ability to
threaten the region and Americans.
-
- Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz told CNN's "Novak,
Hunt and Shields" that President Bush has not made a decision about
military action against Iraq. He said Bush is keeping all of his options,
including diplomacy, on the table, but called Hussein a "very dangerous
man" who poses a threat to the United States.
-
- "We have to do something about it," Wolfowitz
said. "Exactly what we do, I think, is something that we've got to
work with the American people, we've got to consult with our allies. What
we can't do is just wait another 10, 20 years and hope that nothing happens."
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- Wolfowitz said Iraq is among countries trying to develop
weapons of mass destruction that "would make September 11 pale by
comparison."
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- The United States has promised a diplomatic confrontation
with Iraq, which has prevented U.N. weapons inspectors from returning to
certify the country has no weapons of mass destruction. Iraq expelled U.N.
inspectors in 1998.
-
- Wolfowitz said the Bush administration would prefer to
find a diplomatic solution to the Iraq issue, but Hussein "has shown
great resistance to accepting any reasonable outcomes."
-
- In his State of the Union address, Bush named Iraq, Iran
and North Korea part of an "axis of evil" bent on developing
chemical, nuclear or biological weapons.
-
- Vice President Dick Cheney is currently visiting Middle
Eastern leaders to discuss a potential U.S. campaign against Iraq, but
Iraq's neighbors are reluctant to endorse any military action.
- Cheney met Saturday with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince
Abdullah, who was expected to once again discourage any possible U.S. attack
on Iraq. Abdullah said Friday that any effort to overthrow Hussein would
only raise animosity in the region against the United States.
-
- The Pentagon also is considering reclassifying a Navy
pilot shot down over Iraq during the 1991 Persian Gulf war from missing
in action to a prisoner of war. Wolfowitz said U.S. intelligence has "pretty
hard evidence" that Cmdr. Michael Speicher survived the crash of his
F/A-18 Hornet on the first night of the conflict.
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- Pentagon officials said there is no credible evidence
to suggest that Speicher is still alive, but reclassifying him as a POW
would put more pressure on Iraq to account for him, sources said.
-
- After the war, Iraq provided a small amount of human
remains it said were those of an American pilot, but tests showed they
were not Speicher's. His status was changed from killed in action to missing
in action in January 1991.
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