Global Policy Forum

Iraq has been carrying out various measures to defend and maintain security within its capital in case of a possible US-led war on the Arab country, an Iraqi official said on Thursday.

Under the so-called "Baghdad Security Plan", Iraqi authorities have begun to dig artesian wells in different districts across the capital to prepare alternative water sources for its 5 million residents in case of a prolonged siege, the official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. During the 1991 Gulf War, which was triggered by Iraq's August 1990 invasion of neighboring Kuwait, US-led coalition forces bombed many of Iraq's water treatment facilities, among other strategical targets, to press for Baghdad's retreat.

Many Iraqi officials from the ruling Arab Baath Socialist Party have recently resumed their military trainings to confront any possible attacks from the United States, said the official, who is also a member of the Baath Party, without disclosing further details about the Security Plan. In May, senior Iraqi officials and Baath Party members, including cabinet ministers, had gone through a high-profile one-month military training, learning the use of light weapons as well as combat techniques and military theories.

The United States, insisting that Iraq is secretly pursuing weapons of mass destruction, has threatened to take military actions preemptively if Baghdad fails to disarm. In an apparent bid to fend off an imminent war with the United States, Baghdad has agreed to accept UN Security Council Resolution1441 demanding its disarmament, although it still categorically denies having any domes day weapons.

Currently, over 100 UN arms inspectors are carrying out their almost daily field operations in Iraq searching for banned weapons. By Jan. 27, a deadline set by the UN resolution, the inspectors must submit their first report to the 15-member UN Security Council about Iraq's weapons programs, a document which may spell out war or peace.

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