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U.S. Assures It Does Not Seek to `Conquer` Iraq

Sat Oct 5, 5:44 PM ET

By Carol Giacomo, Diplomatic Correspondent

LEESBURG, VA. (Reuters) - The Bush administration, responding to criticism it has not planned sufficiently for a post-Saddam Hussein Iraq, promised on Saturday its military forces would not enter the country as `conquerors` or treat the Iraqi people as a `defeated nation.`

While reaffirming a decision on using force against Iraq had not been made, Zalmay Khalilzad, a senior aide to President Bush, said, `Should force be required, U.S. and coalition forces will liberate the Iraqi people from the tyranny of Saddam Hussein.`

`We will not enter Iraq as conquerors. We will not treat the Iraqi people as a defeated nation,` he said, reading from a written statement.

He also said it was unlikely Washington would support creation of a provisional post-Saddam government until after Iraq`s `liberation.`

His comments to an annual conference sponsored by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy were seen as presaging an important televised speech on Iraq that Bush has set for next week and were intended to build as much support as possible within Iraq for a potential U.S. military campaign.