Saddam Hussein Warns U.S., West
By SAMEER N. YACOUB
Associated Press Writer
September 15, 2001

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Grief-stricken Americans should not wage a "new Crusade" against Muslims, 
but rather learn from the pain that Iraqis and Palestinians have been suffering at the hands of the 
United States and Israel, Saddam Hussein said on Saturday.

"Just as your beautiful skyscrapers were destroyed and caused your grief, beautiful buildings and 
precious homes crumbled over their owners in Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq because of American
weapons used by the Zionists," Saddam said in an open letter addressed to the American people, 
citizens of the West and their governments.

The Iraqi leader warned of a "new crusade" by the United States and its supporters against "an Islamic 
country."

He was apparently referring to Afghanistan, ruled by the radical Taliban. The United States accuses
the Taliban of harboring the prime suspect in Tuesday's terror attacks, Saudi Arabian exile Osama 
bin Laden.

"If you rulers (from the United States and the West) respect and cherish the blood of your people,
why do you find it easy to shed the blood of others including the blood of Arabs and Muslims?" 
said Saddam's statement, which was read by a broadcaster on Iraqi television.

It was followed by footage of U.S. warplanes bombing Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War, and Israeli 
soldiers shooting at Palestinian stone throwers.

"Americans should feel the pain which they have inflicted on other peoples so that when they suffer 
they will know the best way to treat it (the pain)," Saddam's statement said.

Ten years after the Gulf War, Iraq is still shackled by U.S.-supported U.N. sanctions, which Saddam 
claims have caused the death of 1.5 million Iraqis.

Saddam questioned those countries that have rushed to condemn the terrorist strikes on New York
and Washington, asking if they would respond in the same way if the attacks had been carried out 
against Arab or Islamic countries by forces from the West.

He said international security could be achieved if the United States "became rational ... and 
disengages itself from its evil alliance with Zionism," referring to the movement to establish and
maintain a Jewish state.

Iraq, like other Arab nations, believes that the United States is biased toward Israel in its conflict
against the Palestinians.

In Cairo, Iraqi Trade Minister Mohammed Mehdi Saleh denied any Iraqi involvement in Tuesday's
attacks, adding that the "destruction inflicted on Iraq by U.S. and British warplanes far exceeds the
destruction in New York and Washington."

U.S. and British planes patrolling no-fly zones in northern and southern Iraq regularly attack Iraqi 
military and radar installations. Iraq says the strikes often hit civilian facilities. 
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