Clinton won't point finger at Saddam

[LORI SANTOS]

WASHINGTON (UPI) -- President Clinton said Tuesday the thwarted plot
to assassinate George Bush was approved by the Iraqi government and
though that would usually be done ``at the highest levels,'' he wouldn't
say it was Saddam Hussein who ordered it.
Speaking at a news conference with Argentine President Carlos Menem,
Clinton again defended the U.S. raid, which has sent his approval
ratings upward since he ordered the attack on Saddam's intelligence
headquarters with 23 cruise missiles on Saturday.
Asked specifically whether he believed Saddam had indeed ordered the
attempt on Bush's life during a trip to Kuwait in April, Clinton
carefully refused to point the finger at the Iraqi dictator.
``We believe the evidence clearly indicates that the bombing
operation was authorized by the Iraqi government,'' Clinton told
reporters, ``and our analysts have no experience of such an operation of
that magnitude being authorized other than at the highest levels.''
But he added that instead of deciding to go after Saddam personally,
the target was selected because U.S. officials felt it would ``send the
appropriate message.''
``It was thought that under international law and based on the facts
of this particular case that the best possible target was the target of
the intelligence headquarters where in all probability the operation
itself was planned,'' he said.
Clinton spoke as another poll following the weekend attack showed a
substantial boost in his approval ratings, with a CBS-New York Times
survey reporting that two-thirds of Americans polled supported the air
strike on the Iraqi intelligence headquarters in Baghdad, and six out of
10 approving of his general dealings with Iraq.
Specifically, the CBS-Times poll found that after the air strike, 50
percent of Americans surveyed approved of the way Clinton was handling
his overall job as president; last week, only 39 percent approved.
A Washington Post-ABC News poll published Wednesday, however, showed
Clinton's popularity languishing and suggested that concern over his
handling of the economy, and not his actions toward Iraq, was the top
issue.
The poll of 1,514 people interviewed June 25-28 found 41 percent
approved the job he was doing before the attack, compared with 46
percent of those interviewed after the attack. The raid was conducted
June 26.
President Bush's popularity surged by some 18 percentage points in
January 1991, when allied air strikes on Iraq began in the Persian Gulf
War. And Clinton, as a candidate, often criticized Bush for making the
conflict with the Iraqi leader too personal.
However, he has maintained the U.S. policy toward Iraq set in place
by his predecessor, including continued participation in U.N. efforts to
enforce resolutions set in place at the end of the war.
Indeed, shortly before Clinton fielded questions, an U.S. Air Force
jet fighter enforcing a flight ban over southern Iraq attacked an Iraqi
antiaircraft radar site.
Clinton, however, described the action as standard in nature and told
reporters not to ``read too much into it.''
The United States and its allies have been enforcing a ban on flights
over Iraq in the north and south since last summer, hoping to prevent
Iraqi air attacks against some of its own people.
And the president said again that he felt it unlikely any relations
could be resumed between the two countries.
``Based on (Iraq's) conduct, I think the possibility of normal
relations is very difficult to conceive,'' Clinton said. ``Not just in
this instance but in the stubborn refusal of Iraq to comply with the
United Nations resolutions.''
Though officials were quoted Tuesday by The Los Angeles Times as
saying they believed Saddam had personally ordered the massive car-bomb
plot against Bush -- his nemesis throughout the Persian Gulf War -- aides
said later the president was loath to accuse Saddam directly without
``absolute evidence.''
He was asked twice if he believed the plot was approved by Saddam and
he declined to say.
``I have given you the only answer I think is appropriate,'' he said.
At the State Department, however, spokesman Michael McCurry said
officials believed it was ``inconceivable'' the plot could have gone
forward without Saddam's backing.
``The Iraqi intelligence services and the Iraqi government are so
centralized and so tightly controlled that it is inconceivable any
large-scale operation like an asassination attempt against a former
president of the United States could proceed without being known and
approved by Saddam Hussein,'' McCurry said.
Otherwise, Clinton again defended the action as the best possible
response to a terrorist plot.
``First of all we damaged their major intelligence facility quite
severely,'' he said. ``Secondly we made it absolutely clear that we will
not tolerate acts of terrorism or other illegal and dangerous acts. I
think it sent a very important message.''