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King Abdullah: Military Actions a Mistake
Wednesday, March 20, 2002
Agencies via Xinhua

"Iraq is such a complicated issue made of three ethnic groups," he warned. "If you were to start an armed conflict with Iraq, you don't know where it is going to lead.

WASHINGTON -- Xinhua
Jordan's King Abdullah warned the United States late on Monday that military action against Iraq would be "a mistake" with unpredictable consequences.

He also called on Washington to stop snubbing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Appearing on the Larry King Live show on CNN, Abdullah said: "I strongly believe that, right now, action would be a mistake because you don't know the end result and, with the crisis going on with the Palestinians and the Israelis..."

He added: "I don't think the Middle East would handle any sort of strike."

The comments came after US Vice-President Richard Cheney's visit to Amman last week to discuss US concerns about Baghdad's attempts to acquire weapons of mass destruction and sound out the region about the possibility of building an international coalition against Iraq.
(More: China Daily News Source)
2002 © Xinhua.

"It's not another Afghanistan and the potential of the unknown is what worries everybody," the king pointed out.

Truer words were never spoken, and I recall a lot a fear regarding Afghanistan -- well, more caution than fear from the Arab nations. After all, it’s not like they were putting anything on the line. Ah, but Iraq is a little closer Royal OPEC Family.

Dan