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Spy Chief: Iraq May Spark Regional Battle
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Contributor | Guy |
Last Edited | Guy Feb 28, 2006 07:40pm |
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Category | News |
Media | Website - Yahoo News |
News Date | Wednesday, March 1, 2006 01:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
Description | WASHINGTON - A civil war in
Iraq could lead to a broader conflict in the Middle East, pitting the region's rival Islamic sects against each another, National Intelligence Director John Negroponte said in an unusually frank assessment Tuesday.
"If chaos were to descend upon Iraq or the forces of democracy were to be defeated in that country ... this would have implications for the rest of the Middle East region and, indeed, the world," Negroponte said at a
Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on global threats.
"The consequences for the people of Iraq would be catastrophic," he said. "Clearly, it would seriously jeopardize the democratic political process on which they are presently embarked. And one can only begin to imagine what the political outcomes would be."
Saudi Arabia and Jordan could support Iraq's Sunnis, Negroponte said. And
Iran, run by a Shiite Islamic theocracy, "has already got quite close ties with some of the extremist elements" inside Iraq, he added.
While Iraq's neighbors "initially might be reluctant" to get involved in a broader Sunni-Shiite conflict, "that might well be a temptation," Negroponte said. |
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