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    Israeli dailies urge America to launch war against Saddam

    With most estimates that an American attack on Iraq is now no more than weeks away, Israeli newspapers devote much of their news space to Israel’s preparations for the anticipated war in the Gulf.
    In an interview with the Tel Aviv daily Yediot Ahronot, Chief of Staff Moshe (Bougie) Yaalon says Israel has the capacity to strike back hard if attacked by Iraq, adding that he believes the American invasion
    will cause an “earthquake” in the
    Middle East.
    Maariv says the assessment is that the US will attack sooner rather than later, and that the Israel Air Force will be on red alert from next week.
    The paper also quotes Major-General Amos Gilead, the coordinator of government activities in the Palestinian territories, as saying “dormant terrorist cells” are awaiting orders from Baghdad.
    Yediot Ahronot reports that an attack was averted Thursday when two Islamic Jihad members were captured north of Nablus, and a Hamas man who was traveling with them was shot dead when he tried to escape. It adds that two other members of the cell were captured later in Nablus, and that the aim was a car or suicide bombing in the Sharon area.
    Maariv highlights Labor Party leader Amram Mitzna’s victory in the party bureau, which voted unanimously against joining Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s new government.
    In the columns, the main subject is Iraq.
    In Maariv’s Sabbath supplement, columnist Dan Margalit criticizes the opponents of American action in Iraq and warns that “if Saddam Hussein’s regime is allowed to survive, a terrible war may be averted, but the war that will inevitably come later will be much more terrible.”
    “Saddam’s removal has become a necessity,” Margalit asserts. “If America holds back now, he will be intoxicated with success and encouraged to launch aggression after aggression against his neighbors, and more extreme Islamic elements will compete with him in testing the patience of the West, which it perceives as rotten and hollow.
    “The Romans,” Margalit concludes, “said that ‘if you want peace, prepare for war.’ In the reality of 2003, this saying must be adapted to ‘if you want peace, go to war.’”
    Margalit’s colleague at Maariv, Ben Caspit, warns that “with Saddam’s execution orders signed and sealed by President George W. Bush and delivered by Secretary of State Colin Powell in his UN Security Council presentation, the Iraqi leader is like a wounded and trapped animal, his motivation to wreak damage at its highest ever level. The question we must all ask is whether he is still capable of causing damage.
    “Bush has to come back from Baghdad with Saddam’s scalp,” Caspit maintains. “Any other result would be perceived as a stunning and dangerous victory for world terrorism and a resounding American defeat. Bush doesn’t intend to make the same mistake as his father, and he intends to go all the way, regardless of the cost. The juggernaut is already underway and it won’t stop in Baghdad. Iran, Syria, Hizbullah, North Korea and Al-Qaeda are all in its sights. Saddam is first, because he is the most accessible, convenient and hated target.”
    Caspit explains that “in his besieged headquarters in Ramallah, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat sits with bated breath, holding thumbs for Saddam. He realizes that his future is directly linked to Saddam’s fate. Iraq has been increasing the flow of funds to the Palestinians, trying to heat up the atmosphere. All this will come to an end on the day after the war. But, will there be a critical mass that will carry Arafat to his end as well?
    “Sharon would love to see Arafat join Saddam in oblivion, enabling him to declare a historical victory and to set in motion his version of a peace process.”
 
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