World

Iraq Sanguine On War Anniversary

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

January 16, 2002 / 7:16 AM EST / CBS

Iraq said on the eve of the 11th anniversary of the 1991 Gulf War it was not frightened of the United States.

"We are not afraid of anyone and we are not worried about anything despite a lot of suggestions, fuss, noise and allegations against us," a newspaper controlled by dictator Saddam Hussein said on Wednesday.

The paper said Iraq had overcome all difficulties and "is close to achieving final victory."

And Hussein said on Thursday Iraq won't be caught off guard if attacked by U.S. forces. He also took on American foreign policy.

"The events of Sept. 11 and the American reaction to them came to reveal extensively how the United States is going headlong in antagonizing the world," the dictator said, adding. "The ascent to the summit is not achieved by brutal force. But it needs a strength of mind and a sensitive human conscience."

More than 12,000 Iraqis rallied in Baghdad to mark the start of the U.S. led bombing campaign.

As Iraq marked the 11th anniversary of the start of the Gulf War - sparked by the country's invasion of neighboring Kuwait in 1990 - speculation has grown that the United States could hit Iraq in its drive against terrorism following the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington.

Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., said on Monday the battle against terrorism would not be won until Hussein was removed from power. President George W. Bush recently warned that Hussein would face consequences if he did not allow United Nations weapons inspectors to return to Baghdad. Those inspectors left Iraq in December 1998 and have not been allowed to return.

The six-week Gulf War, which the Iraqi dictator dubbed the "Mother of all Battles," inflicted widespread damage to Iraq's infrastructure and left thousands of Iraqi civilians dead. The allied campaign ended when Iraqi forces were driven out of Kuwait.

Iraq has since been under United Nations economic sanctions. Baghdad says the sanctions have claimed the lives of more than 1.5 million people because of shortages of food and medicines.

The United States and Britain have imposed two no-fly zones to protect a Kurdish enclave in northern Iraq and Shi'ite Muslims in the south from possible attack, and warplanes patrolling the zones frequently fire at Iraqi air defense units challenging them.