Rising pressure delays Iraq war
Warren P. Strobel
Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT)
WASHINGTON — Even as U.S.
troops and armor pour into the Per
sian Gulf, President Bush faces rising
pressures on multiple fronts to slow
down the momentum toward war.
As recently as a few weeks ago,
senior Bush administration officials
were suggesting that a U.S. invasion
to oust Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein
might begin soon after a pivotal re
port from United Nations’ weapons
inspectors on Jan. 27.
Now, the target date appears to
have slipped to late February or ear
ly March at the soonest, U.S. officials
and analysts say.
In the latest sign of a possible de
lay, Defense Secretary Donald H.
Rumsfeld is said to be leaning
against a plan to begin a war in Iraq
with bombing before all necessary
U.S. ground forces are assembled in
the Persian Gulf region. Those forces
are not expected to be in place be
fore mid-February.
The apparent rejection of that so
called “rolling start” option is just
one of the diplomatic, military and
domestic developments that could
postpone the invasion start beyond
the mid-winter date favored by
Bush’s more hawkish advisers.
Chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans
Blix insisted this week that he need
ed until at least March to assess Iraq’s
willingness to disarm peacefully. “We
have no such timeline on the work we
do now,” Blix said, when asked about
U.S. troop deployments. “I am oper
ating on my own timeline.”
Concerned by public opinion hos
tile to a war, U.S. allies, including close
Bush friend Prime Minister Tony Blair
of Britain, are counseling patience.
Neither Blix nor the U.S. govern
ment has made public a “smoking
gun” showing Saddam is hiding
banned weapons of mass destruc
tion, which may be needed to galva
nize world opinion.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi An
nan added his voice Tuesday to
those urging that more time be giv
en to the weapons inspections.
“I don’t think from where I stand we
are at that stage yet,” Annan replied
when asked whether there should be
an invasion even if no illicit weapons
are found. “I think the inspectors are
just getting up to full speed.”
U.S. officials, eager to keep their
options open, insist publicly that
there never was a timetable for war.
Bush went out of his way Tuesday
to dispute suggestions that the ad
ministration’s determination toward
Saddam is weakening.
“I’m sick and tired of games and
deception,” the president said. “I
haven’t seen any evidence that he has
disarmed. Time is running out on
Saddam Hussein. He must disarm.”
Rumsfeld signed two major de
ployment orders over the weekend,
to dispatch 62,000 more Marines,
Army soldiers and Air Force person
nel to the region.
With those deployments, the
number of American forces in the
region is expected to grow to about
150,000 air, ground and naval forces
in the next several weeks. An addi
tional 100,000 are expected in the
region by mid- to late February to be
ready for a full-scale air and ground
assault on Iraq.
Those deployments create a mo
mentum of their own.
Some analysts suggest that Ameri
can war planners must launch an at
tack before the end of February in
order to conclude operations before
the scorching heat of the Persian
Gulf summer begins. Summer in
Kuwait and Iraq begins in late May
and lasts through August. Tempera
tures have been reported as high as
120 degrees.
But senior U.S. military officers in
Kuwait dismiss the idea that U.S.
forces face an arbitrary deadline im
posed by the weather. Many of the
troops have already spent many
months training for summertime
temperatures.
More than any other factor, public
opinion here and abroad is compli
cating Bush’s military calculations.
A national Knight Ridder poll re
leased Sunday found that only about
a third of Americans support a war
against Iraq without backing from
the United Nations and U.S. allies.
To gain that backing, Bush may
need rock-solid proof that Saddam is
lying when he says Iraq has no nu
clear, chemical or biological weapons
programs. So far, no such “smoking
gun” has been made public and, on
the surface at least, Iraq has cooperat
ed with weapons inspectors.
Leaders in Turkey, Britain and
across the Middle East, while not
necessarily opposed to ousting Sad
dam, have citizens who are.
In the United States, tens of thou
sands of anti-war protesters from 40
states are due to converge on Wash
ington this weekend.
© 2003, Knight Ridder/Tribune
Information Services. Knight Ridder
correspondents Jessica Guynn, Jonathan
S. Landay, Joseph L. Galloway and Drew
Brown contributed to this report.
Prosecutor seeks death for sniper suspect
Tony Pugh
Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT)
FAIRFAX, Va. — Fingerprints on a
high-powered Bushmaster rifle link 17
year-old sniper suspect John Lee Malvo
to three fatal attacks and a fourth that
left a man critically wounded, a Virginia
prosecutor argued Tuesday.
In addition, Malvo contacted po
lice at least four times — twice in
notes and twice in phone calls —
asking for $10 million to end the
string of attacks that rattled the na
tion’s capital last fall, Virginia Com
monwealth’s Attorney Robert Ho
ran told the court.
Horan wants Fairfax County Juve
nile Court Chief Judge Charles Max
field to declare that Malvo should be
tried as an adult. If he’s convicted as
an adult, Malvo could be put to death.
Malvo and John Allen Muham
mad, 42, are accused of shooting 18
people, killing 13 and wounding five
in a nationwide spate of attacks,
most of them on random victims do
ing routine tasks like shopping or
pumping gas. Ten killings and three
woundings were in the Washington
area, and the first trials are in the
capital’s Virginia suburbs.
In Fairfax, Malvo faces capital mur
der charges in the Oct. 14 death of
Linda Franklin, an FBI analyst who
was gunned down outside a Home
Depot store in suburban Falls
Church, Va.
Her husband, William Franklin,
testified Tuesday that he and his
wife were trying to put a long shelf
into their 1991 Mercury Capri when
he heard a loud noise and felt spray
hit his face.
“I turned and saw my wife laying
on the ground,” Franklin said. She’d
been hit on the left side of her fore
head by a bullet that exited on the
right side near her eye, a police wit
ness testified.
Malvo, wearing a green county jail
jumpsuit, white sneakers and a
white T-shirt, sat attentively with
his attorneys. They asked Franklin
and police witnesses whether Malvo
had been seen at the crime scene.
All answered no.
Malvo could face two counts of
capital murder in connection with
the Oct. 14 shooting. One permits
the death penalty when a person
commits more than one murder in a
three-year period. The other allows
the death penalty under an anti-ter
rorism statute.
The hearing resumes on Wednesday.
© 2003, Knight Ridder/Tribune
Information Services.
Directors expand budgets for Erb Memorial Union
The EMU Board of Directors
grants budget increases
to three groups and
approves statements
Roman Gokhman
Campus/City Culture Reporter
The EMU Board of Directors set
2003-04 budgets and approved
philosophical statements Monday
for three groups, including the
board itself.
The Child Care and Development
Center, EMU Food Service and the
EMU Board were all given larger
budgets, mainly because of increas-.
es in the minimum wage salaries of
their student employees.
CCDC saw its budget increase
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from $843,811 to $924,927 for the
next academic year with a motion
that passed 9-0. The added funds
also included money for the
organization’s move to a new
facility at East 17th Avenue and
Moss Street.
GGDG co-chairwoman Carla De
Shaw, a University graduate student
and mother of two, supported the
increased budget.
“When I take (my kids) to school,
that gives me peace of mind,” De
Shaw said.
Other GGDG supporters said
without the program they would not
be able to attend the University.
EMU board member Mark Watson
questioned GGDG’s program in the
Moshofsky Sports Center during
home football games.
The not-for-profit program is
used primarily by fans who are not
University students.
The board and GGDG Coordina
tor Dennis Reynolds agreed the pro
gram eould be used to make a profit
in the future so the child care cen
ter would be more self-sufficient.
GGDG’s philosophical statement
was passed by a 7-0 vote.
The board set the 2003-04 Food
Service budget at 81,453,870 with a
motion that passed 9-0. The previ
ous academic year’s budget was not
available.
“It’s going to be really hard to
make a profit,” Food Service Direc
tor John Costello said.
Board member Brenda Tincher
said she was happy with the use of
the phrase “self-sufficient” in Food
Service’s philosophical statement,
which was approved 7-0.
Also, the Board approved the in
crease of its own budget from
$8,806 to $14,339 in 2003-04.
Citing increases in work-study
pay and the need for better organi
zational retreats, the motion
passed 9-0.
The board’s philosophical goals
and purpose statement were also
approved 9-0.
Finally, the board voted 7-2 to no
tify all budget managers to appear
Friday to discuss budgets.
Contact the reporter
atromangokhman@dailyemerald.com.
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