As war looms Final Edition

• Published in: Milwaukee journal sentinel
• Main Author: TYLER MARSHALL AND DAVID LAMB
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: Milwaukee, Wis Journal Sentinel Inc 17.03.2003
• Subjects: Bush, George (President); Hussein, Saddam
• ISSN: 1082-8850

"In 1990, the case (against [Saddam Hussein]) was very clear, and President [Bush] succeeded to build it," Kawari said. "I think the current president didn't succeed in building a case that there is a threat. It is not a war of liberation -- it is a war for (Hussein's) head." Several factors have tainted Bush administration efforts to sell the case for attacking Hussein in Arab countries. Israeli attacks on Palestinian civilians beamed nightly into the region have left many Arabs convinced that the United States operates by a double standard, declining to stop Israel yet wanting to attack Hussein. The gulf of suspicion between the United States and the Muslim world since the Sept. 11 attacks has added to the difficulty. In 1991, area specialists note, the goal of American intervention never wavered: Free Kuwait. Twelve years later, the Bush administration has attempted to justify military action with a number of arguments -- ranging from Hussein's alleged stocks of weapons of mass destruction to terrorist links to human rights violations -- with marginal results.