WASHINGTON Ñ The Iraqi issue topped the agenda Tuesday during Vice President Richard Cheney's talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in Jerusalem.

The United States has agreed to focus on the destruction of Iraqi missile launchers deployed to attack the Jewish state in any Washington-led military campaign against the regime of President Saddam Hussein.

Diplomatic sources and Israeli officials said Cheney and Sharon agreed on several points regarding a Washington-led attack on Saddam and the threat of an Iraqi missile backlash against the Jewish state.

The agreement came amid high-level discussions between Jerusalem and Washington that reviewed scenarios of a U.S.-led war against Baghdad, Middle East Newsline reported. Senior officials from both countries have envisioned a series of threats from Iraq as well as its allies in Lebanon and the Palestinian Authority.

"We are not talking about iron-clad agreements," a Western diplomatic source said. "But the two countries have discussed and reached understandings regarding several scenarios."

"We discussed all those issues, and I think that both sides know exactly if such thing will occur, what we're going to do," Sharon said without elaborating.

The discussions have included Israel's reactions to the prospect that Iraq or its Arab and Islamic allies will attack the Jewish state. The two countries are said to have reached an understanding over the military priorities in any U.S. war against President Saddam Hussein.

The priorities focus on protecting Israel from an Iraqi nonconventional missile attack. The sources said the administration has pledged to provide early-warning alert for any Iraqi missile attack and focus its war effort on destroying Iraqi missile launchers near the Jordanian border. The sources said the understandings were reached during Cheney's visit this week.

"I had extensive discussions with Prime Minister Sharon on these issues," Cheney said. "We discussed them before, and obviously we would expect to stay in very close consultation and are looking forward with this respect with how we might best deal with this threat."

The understandings also include an Israeli commitment to exhibit restraint during any U.S.-led war against Iraq. The sources said the commitment regards a series of scenarios raised by Washington.

"The U.S. discussions are meant to coordinate with Israel any response to such scenarios," a diplomatic source said. "The Bush administration wants to prevent a massive Israeli retaliation that could derail any U.S. military effort against [Iraqi President] Saddam Hussein. A key understanding by Israel is that the war against Iraq essentially takes precedence over anything else."

In one scenario, Iraq fires missiles tipped with chemical warheads toward Israel. U.S. intelligence agencies believe Iraq has installed chemical warheads on Iraqi Scud-class missiles. But the agencies are skeptical over the effectiveness of the warheads on aging Iraqi missiles, meant to fly more than 400 kilometers.

The diplomatic sources said Israel has agreed to demonstrate restraint in the face of such an Iraqi attack as long as the missiles are launched from Iraqi territory rather than from neighboring Jordan or Syria.

The administration has also recommended that Israel show restraint in case Iraq's allies fire missiles at the Jewish state. The most likely scenario is that Hizbullah launches a rocket barrage from northern Israel.

Senior U.S. officials have sought agreement from Israel that any retaliation to a Hizbullah attack would be tactical and limited to southern Lebanon.

Sharon has agreed to take into account U.S. considerations in responding to any Hizbullah rocket attack. But the sources said the prime minister's assurance was more vague than that concerning an Iraqi missile attack.

For his part, Sharon has sought U.S. understanding for an Israeli military response to a third scenario Ñ that of a Palestinian rocket attack on Israeli communities during the war against Saddam. The sources said Sharon maintains that Israel would then reserve the right to respond with a massive attack that would destroy the PA or exile PA Chairman Yasser Arafat.

The administration appears divided over Sharon's request. The sources said Cheney, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld have expressed understanding of Sharon's position. But Secretary of State Colin Powell has warned that a massive Israeli response would derail any U.S. military campaign in Iraq.

Print this Article

Email this article

Free Headline Alerts