On the 11th anniversary of the Gulf War, President Saddam Hussein said yesterday his country was prepared for and would foil any fresh US military attack against Iraq as part of a war against terrorism.
In a televised speech to the nation, Saddam said experience Iraq had gained from the Gulf War -- in which a US-led coalition drove Iraqi forces out of Kuwait and bombed Iraq -- would enable it to repulse any new military campaign.
"After the course of the aggression 11 years ago, backed up by a continuous aggression till this day, our people will not be taken by surprise," Saddam said.
Iraq had survived the Gulf War and would be able to survive other military action, he said.
He said Iraqis "now have more confidence in themselves and more conviction in their march than they had in the year 1991.
"Will the performance of one who has sat an examination and passed it be higher and better, or lower and lesser?" Saddam asked.
But he prayed that God would spare Iraq military confrontation with the US.
"We pray to Allah, glorified be his name, to keep our people and our nation away from the evil of the evildoers and their wicked intentions."
Thousands of Iraqis, including some who have volunteered to fight with Palestinians in their uprising against Israeli occupation, shouted curses against the US during a march in Baghdad.
"Down, down with America. ... Down, down with Bush," chanted the demonstrators. They burned an effigy of US President George W. Bush and the US and Israeli flags.
With some US officials believing Washington failed to "finish the job" against Saddam in 1991, there has been speculation that the US could again target Iraq following the Sept. 11 attacks on US cities.
Bush promised on Wednesday to consult with the Turkish government in his drive to force Saddam to let UN weapons inspectors back into his country.
"I expect Saddam Hussein to let inspectors back into the country," Bush said in Washington during a visit by Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit. "We want to know whether he's developing weapons of mass destruction. He claims he's not: Let the world in to see. And if he doesn't, we'll have to deal with that at the appropriate time."
What if Saddam refuses? "He'll find out," Bush said.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary