RIDGE ISSUES WARNINGS TO IRAQ

Washington. November 25, 2002. In his first action as Director of the Department of Homeland Security, Tom Ridge outlined today a series of war measures against Iraq.
Noting that President Bush had initially been rebuffed by the United Nations in claiming that the continued firing at planes in the no-fly zone justified immediate war, Ridge issued a series of pre-emptive guidelines. He stated that these will put Saddam Hussein and Kofi Annan on notice of what constitutes a violation of the U.N. resolution and justifies action by the United States. Using established color codes, the first list has the following terms:

YELLOW (Justifies bombing by U.S. Air Force)

Distributing leaflets to U.S. forces in the Middle East
Raising oil prices to force U.S. gasoline price to $2 per gallon
Screening Bagdad with an array of Roman candles
Forming alliance with Zimbabwe

RED (Justifies immediate invasion by U.S. troops)

Iraq engages in missile parts trade with North Korea
On December 8, Iraq admits having weapons of mass destruction, or denies having any.
Saddam refuses to reveal numbers of his Swiss bank accounts