Global Policy Forum

By David Teather

The CIA and US special forces have been given authority to use "lethal force" to capture or kill the Iraqi president, Saddam Hussein. Details emerged yesterday of an intelligence order signed by President George Bush instructing the CIA to conduct covert operations aimed at toppling the Iraqi leader.

The order, signed earlier this year, adds to increasing evidence that the US is planning an all-out assault to remove the Iraqi leader, who forms part of President Bush's so-called "axis of evil". Government officials refused to comment on the order, but the Senate majority leader Tom Daschle confirmed that Congress had been consulted about the move.

The order, an expansion of a previous presidential finding designed to oust Saddam, was reported by the Washington Post's Bob Woodward, one of the men who uncovered the Watergate scandal.

President Bush has directed the CIA to use all available resources. These include increased support to Iraqi opposition groups and forces inside and outside the country in the form of money, equipment, training and intelligence. The CIA is also increasing efforts to collect intelligence from within the Iraqi state and population.

The order also allows for the use of CIA and special forces similar to those deployed in Afghanistan since September 11 who would be authorised to kill the Iraqi leader if they were acting in self-defence. President Bush first started talking openly about a pre-emptive strike two weeks ago, in a speech at the West Point military academy, although he did not specifically name Iraq.

"If we wait for threats to fully materialise we will have waited too long," he said. "The war on terror will not be won on the defensive. We must take the battle to the enemy, disrupt his plans and confront the worst threats before they emerge."

Mr Daschle said Congress had expressed some reservations about the timing of a strike.

"There is broad support for a regime change in Iraq," he said. "The question is how do we do it and when do we do it. I think the timing of all this is very important, but we want to work with the administration."

President Bush's war cabinet agreed in January that the policy of containment had failed. According to the Post, the CIA director, George Tenet, has told Mr Bush that covert action without attendant military action has only about a 10% to 20% chance of success. But covert action is viewed by some as a means of preparing for a military strike. It would identify targets, intensify intelligence-gathering on the ground and build contacts with future leaders, one source told the paper. Reports suggesting that Mr Bush had approved covert action first appeared at the end of February, but offered little detail.

The Guardian reported in the same month that the Pentagon and CIA had begun preparations for an assault using up to 200,000 troops. That plan, however, is still fluid and could involve a smaller force, learning from the experience in Afghanistan. In an interview in April, President Bush said: "I made up my mind that Hussein needs to go. That's about all I'm willing to share. The policy of my government is that he goes."

Washington fears that if attacked, Saddam may use chemical and biological weapons on US forces and Israel. As well as covert action, it has stepped up diplomatic and economic pressure on Iraq.

The CIA's covert war also involves arming and training Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq. The CIA has had a frosty relationship with the main opposition, the Iraqi National Congress, led by the London-based Ahmed Chalabi. But it has begun intensive consultations with the INC about training and arming its supporters.

Iraq said yesterday that it wanted all UN sanctions against Baghdad lifted before an agreement could be reached on allowing weapons inspectors back into the country, according to the official Iraqi news agency.

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