On Bush and Iraq

The Americans are hinting that they are about to embark on stage two of the war against terrorism with Iraq in their sights. America has to weigh its course carefully. Iraq is not Afghanistan and many Muslim states will say to President Bush: enough. If war breaks out against Iraq, it may well be interpreted in Cairo, Sanaa and other places in the Muslim world as a war against Islam.

Many in the United States, in any case, already tend to say that this war is a personal vendetta of President Bush, settling accounts for (the failure of) his father, who tried to unseat Saddam Hussein, who is still in power while all those who fought him have long since been dropped from the stage of history."

-- Yediot Ahronot, Tel Aviv, Israel