MIRROR READERS REJECT WAR AGAINST IRAQ
91% vote NO to Iraq attack
By Fiona Cummins, Daily Mirror

Sun Aug 4, 2002 
DAILY Mirror readers have voted overwhelmingly against war with Iraq.

Almost 91 per cent of the 11,855 callers to our phone poll said No to a
US-led attack to topple Saddam Hussein.

The huge response sent a clear signal to Tony Blair, already under intense
pressure not to back President Bush's invasion plans. The Mirror asked: Do
you support a war on Iraq?

In one of our biggest-ever phone verdicts, 1,116 (9.41 per cent) said Yes
while 10,739 (90.59 per cent) said No.

President Bush vowed to press ahead with action for a "regime change" in
Baghdad. And there was a cool response in Washington and London to Saddam's
surprise offer of talks about re-admitting United Nations weapons inspectors
to Iraq.

In a letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji
Sabri invited chief arms inspector Hans Blix to Baghdad.

The British Government dismissed the move yesterday.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "Saddam has a history of playing games. His
track record shows, he does not deliver.

"Iraq remains in breach of at least 23 of 27 separate obligations placed on
it by the United Nations Security Council.

"The requirement of Iraq is clear and unchanged: unfettered access for UN
weapons inspectors - any time, any place, anywhere."

The White House, while not rejecting the offer of talks out of hand, said it
did not change the plan to oust Saddam after four years of deadlock.

Bush spokesman Sean McCormack said: "What the Iraqi leader must do is
unequivocally agree to inspections, anytime, anywhere, not propose
negotiations.

"There's no need for discussion. Our policy remains the same."

Former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter said he believed the offer was
genuine.

But it was also a clever diplomatic move which undermined the US military
strategy.

Mr Ritter said: "What we see now is a bold diplomatic move to derail this
headlong rush towards war that exists here in the United States and try to
throw a monkey wrench into the machinery of war."

The UN Security Council will discuss the Iraqi offer on Monday.