Ronnie Ron
04-04-2003, 08:57 AM
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Former CIA Director James
Woolsey said Wednesday the United States is engaged in World War
IV, and that it could continue for years.
In the address to a group of college students, Woolsey described
the Cold War as the third world war and said "This fourth world
war, I think, will last considerably longer than either World
Wars I or II did for us. Hopefully not the full four-plus
decades of the Cold War."
Woolsey has been named in news reports as a possible candidate
for a key position in the reconstruction of a postwar Iraq.
He said the new war is actually against three enemies: the
religious rulers of Iran, the "fascists" of Iraq and Syria, and
Islamic extremists like al Qaeda.
Woolsey told the audience of about 300, most of whom are
students at the University of California at Los Angeles, that
all three enemies have waged war against the United States for
several years but the United States has just "finally noticed."
"As we move toward a new Middle East," Woolsey said, "over the
years and, I think, over the decades to come ... we will make a
lot of people very nervous."
It will be America's backing of democratic movements throughout
the Middle East that will bring about this sense of unease, he
said.
"Our response should be, 'good!'" Woolsey said.
Singling out Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and the leaders of
Saudi Arabia, he said, "We want you nervous. We want you to
realize now, for the fourth time in a hundred years, this
country and its allies are on the march and that we are on the
side of those whom you -- the Mubaraks, the Saudi Royal family
-- most fear: We're on the side of your own people."
Woolsey, who served as CIA director under President Bill
Clinton, was taking part in a "teach-in" at UCLA, a series of
such forums at universities across the nation.
A group calling itself "Americans for Victory Over Terrorism"
sponsors the teach-ins, and the Bruin Republicans, UCLA's campus
Republicans organization, co-sponsored Wednesday night's event.
The group was founded by former Education Secretary William
Bennett, who took part in Wednesday's event along with Paul
Bremer, a U.S. ambassador during the Reagan administration and
the former chairman of the National Commission on Terrorism.
Woolsey said Wednesday the United States is engaged in World War
IV, and that it could continue for years.
In the address to a group of college students, Woolsey described
the Cold War as the third world war and said "This fourth world
war, I think, will last considerably longer than either World
Wars I or II did for us. Hopefully not the full four-plus
decades of the Cold War."
Woolsey has been named in news reports as a possible candidate
for a key position in the reconstruction of a postwar Iraq.
He said the new war is actually against three enemies: the
religious rulers of Iran, the "fascists" of Iraq and Syria, and
Islamic extremists like al Qaeda.
Woolsey told the audience of about 300, most of whom are
students at the University of California at Los Angeles, that
all three enemies have waged war against the United States for
several years but the United States has just "finally noticed."
"As we move toward a new Middle East," Woolsey said, "over the
years and, I think, over the decades to come ... we will make a
lot of people very nervous."
It will be America's backing of democratic movements throughout
the Middle East that will bring about this sense of unease, he
said.
"Our response should be, 'good!'" Woolsey said.
Singling out Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and the leaders of
Saudi Arabia, he said, "We want you nervous. We want you to
realize now, for the fourth time in a hundred years, this
country and its allies are on the march and that we are on the
side of those whom you -- the Mubaraks, the Saudi Royal family
-- most fear: We're on the side of your own people."
Woolsey, who served as CIA director under President Bill
Clinton, was taking part in a "teach-in" at UCLA, a series of
such forums at universities across the nation.
A group calling itself "Americans for Victory Over Terrorism"
sponsors the teach-ins, and the Bruin Republicans, UCLA's campus
Republicans organization, co-sponsored Wednesday night's event.
The group was founded by former Education Secretary William
Bennett, who took part in Wednesday's event along with Paul
Bremer, a U.S. ambassador during the Reagan administration and
the former chairman of the National Commission on Terrorism.