Though bombs continue to rain down on Afghanistan, military experts believe that it is probably now a matter of weeks — not months or years — before Osama bin Laden is found and the conflict there concludes. But U.S. officials, including President Bush, have been careful to stress that Afghanistan represents not the end of the war against terrorism, but the beginning.

Once the World's Most Wanted Man is out of the picture, the steps the Bush administration will take against others suspected of harboring and promoting terrorism are far from clear. And topping that list of suspects is none other than Iraqi leader and long-time U.S. nemesis Saddam Hussein.

During a Rose Garden ceremony on November 26, President Bush emphasized that he continues to regard Hussein with suspicion. In particular, Bush harped on how Hussein has refused to allow United Nations weapons inspectors into Iraq since 1998. "In order to prove to the world he's not developing weapons of mass destruction, he ought to let the inspectors back in," Bush said.

Since the September 11 attacks, officials at the Pentagon, the State Department, and the White House have debated what should be done about the Iraqi dictator, according to reports in The New York Times and elsewhere. Administration hard-liners argue that extensive military action must be taken to ensure that Iraq can no longer serve as a haven for terrorists. Others worry that strikes against Hussein will imperil the fragile anti-terrorist coalition of nations that Secretary of State Powell and the president have so carefully cobbled together.

As of November 30, there is no conclusive proof that Iraq played a direct role in the September 11 attacks on the U.S. But strong circumstantial evidence suggests that an Iraqi agent operating in Europe knew of the attacks five months before they took place. According to officials in the Czech Republic, suspected September 11 terrorist ringleader Mohammad Atta met with Iraqi intelligence officer Ahmed Khalil Ibrahim Samir al-Ani in Prague on April 11 of this year.

According to airline records, Atta flew from Virginia Beach directly to the Czech Republic on April 8, then flew back to the U.S. almost immediately after that meeting is said to have taken place. This suggests that Atta made the trip specifically to meet with Ani.

Either because the evidence is far from airtight or because they want to keep their current investigation under wraps, administration officials have chosen not to address specifically what role Iraq might have played in the September 11 attacks. Instead, their harshest rhetoric has addressed Iraq's alleged role in developing and stockpiling chemical, biological and, potentially, nuclear weapons.

Iraq's possession of weapons of mass destruction has been at issue since the conclusion of the Gulf War in 1991. After driving Hussein's forces out of Kuwait and back into Iraq, President Bush (Sr.) chose to allow the Iraqi leader to remain in power. The argument championed by Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff (now Secretary of State) Colin Powell — and agreed to by the elder Bush — was that removing Hussein from power would politically destabilize the entire Gulf region. The hope was that elements from within the country would eventually rise and topple the dictator. But Hussein has proven an adept survivor and intransigent leader, oppressing his people while stymieing the U.S.

One of the conditions of the end of the Gulf War was that Iraq would eliminate its entire weapons stockpile. But by 1992, it became apparent that Hussein had not done so. As a result, the United Nations imposed significant economic sanctions against the Gulf state. These sanctions have become a point of friction between the U.S. and some Arab states, which view them as cruel punishment that impacts the people of Iraq more than Hussein himself.

Though U.S.-Iraq relations have been sour since the end of the Gulf War, tensions between the two nations have boiled over on a number of occasions during the past decade. The last such flare-up took place when Iraq refused to allow U.N. inspectors complete access to facilities inside the country. In response, President Clinton launched air strikes against Iraq.

To this date, it is not entirely clear exactly what weapons Hussein may have stockpiled but his refusal to allow inspectors free access troubles U.S. officials. As troubling is the strong evidence that Iraq once used chemical weapons on Kurdish citizens within its own borders.

During his November 26 remarks, the president declined to specify what consequences Iraq would suffer if the country continued to defy the U.S. "He'll find out," Bush said. So, apparently, will the rest of us.

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An MTV News Staff report

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