Iraqi TV says US attacked itself
Wednesday, 11 September, 2002

Iraqi TV has commented on the first anniversary of the 11 September attacks in two special reports. State media said that the US itself planned last year's attacks on New York and Washington to justify its war against terror. 

The reports also said that any future attack on Iraq would end in defeat for the Americans. 

The attacks were a pretext for the war on terror, Iraq said

The two reports came as Iraqis were sitting down to watch the lunchtime news bulletins. 

The first showed archive footage from last year with pictures of the Twin Towers burning, as well as stills of various world leaders. 

The voiceover deployed the kind of rhetoric heard from Iraq over a number of months. 

It said the US was an evil administration which continued to carry out its daily aggression. 

Washington, it said, was using the attacks as a pretext to wage war, but it would be defeated if it attacked Iraq. 

The second 20-minute programme was called "Who planned the 11 September events?" 

An off-screen commentator said the attacks were knowingly prepared within the US to justify an unlimited war by the US and Israel against Arabs and Muslims. 

US domination 

The report continued that such a war was intended to allow America to dominate the world after its defeat in the Gulf War and the end of hostilities in the former Yugoslavia. 

The commentator said Washington would also use the war as a marketing showcase for American weaponry. 

The US wanted to declare war on all Muslims, the reports claimed

The programme included archive footage and stills of Saddam Hussein. 

It ended by accusing the US of imposing state terrorism on the peoples of the world in the name of fighting terrorism. 

Anyone who was against Washington, the piece said, was judged as being for terrorism and must be subject to retribution in the "Yankee American" way.