DOHA: There is no possibility of an armed conflict in the Gulf region over the Iranian nuclear programmes, General Tommy Franks, former chief of the US Central Command (Centcom) who commanded the war against Iraq, said here yesterday.
Franks was addressing a large gathering at the Ritz- Carlton yesterday, comprising members of the Qatari and American armed forces and a host of diplomats and senior Qatari officials.
The comments on Iran came as he was replying to a query from the audience after the one-hour long speech.
"I hope we never see an armed conflict on Iran. I would say it as a taxpayer in my country, not as an army general, because I am old and retired," Franks said. "I don't think it will happen," he added.
He lauded Qatar for its principled stand against proliferation of nuclear weapons as well as "weapons of mass destruction," as the Americans call it.
"If we are in Tehran today, at this moment, think about what a citizen on the street would say if asked what Iran should do," he said.
During the lecture, Franks recalled his years long relations with the Arab region in general and Qatar in particular and his involvement in the crises in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He was all praises for the Qatari people and their leadership for their close relations with the US and for Qatar's policy of supporting and defending the values of dialogue, peace and mutual understanding.
"You are our friends, at a time when it is not easy and convenient to be a friend of the United States," he commented.
" I am delighted to return to Doha, which is my second home. Unfortunately many American don't understand this beautiful place... It is amazing to see the changes here over the past five years, by the visionary leadership of the Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. I am amazed to see the growth and evolution of the Qatari military," he added.
"We are separated by culture, religion and language but united by values, dignity of the human being and our aspirations for a better life and a better future for our sons and grandsons," Franks said.
In reply to query on the post-war scenario in Iraq, Franks said, before a war nobody could say whether a country would be plunged into a civil war or not after its leadership was removed. He asked the gathering to make a comparison between the post-war scenario in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In a reference to Iraq and Afghanistan earlier, Franks said, he hoped people in both countries would eventually be able to overcome their problems.
In the case of Afghanistan, a representative government was established in the country and people had some say in decisions affecting their future. He hoped that people in Iraq would also be able to "make it" ultimately with their love of their families and children.
Asked his view on the role of media in a war, Franks said, one should expect "a lot of bad stuff" from the media during any war. "A good news is not perceived to be good business," he said, adding that the media all over the world were more interested in negative stories than positive things. However, they should strike a balance between the positive and negative, he added.
In reply to a specific question about the American stand on Al Jazeera and reports about an American plan to bomb the Al Jazeera headquarters, Franks said, the media, all over the world had lost their accountability. This is true about all the media, whether it be Al Jazeera, CNN, BBC, NBC and so on. A lot of false information and absurd allegations are going in the media every day which are fuelling hatred among societies, he noted.
Asked about the torture of Iraqi prisoners in Abu Ghuraib, Franks said he had seen good and bad people in the American military, which is the case with all armed forces in the world. "There is no excuse for such behaviour," he said. He added that as a policy, the American government used to punish those who were found to be involving in such acts.
Qatar's Chief of Staff of Qatari Armed Forces Major General Hamad bin Ali Al Attiyah welcomed Franks and presented him a memento.
By Mohammed Iqbal
© The Peninsula 2006
