U.S. Continues Pressure Against Iraq On Monday, July 8, President Bush re-emphsized his goal to change the regime in Iraq. He told reporters that "It's a stated policy of this government to have the regime change....And we'll use all tools at our disposal to do so." In the same press conference Bush confirmed that government officials had leaked plans for a fullscale U.S. war against Iraq. As reported in the New York Times on July 4, the U.S. invasion would include 250,000 U.S troops after hundreds of warplanes had unleashed a huge air assault against thousands of targets, including airfields, roadways and fiber-optics communications sites. Recently, Bush also signed an executive order directing the CIA to increase support to Iraqi opposition groups and allowing possible use of CIA and Special Forces teams to destroy the current Iraqi government and possibly kill Saddam Hussein. This continuing U.S. pressure against Iraq is the action of an outlaw, terrorist state -- U.S. imperialism -- which aims to keep Iraq under its thumb through force of arms. At the time when the international community is demanding that U.N. sanctions against Iraq be lifted and the Iraqi people be allowed to leave in peace and sovereignty, U.S. imperialism continues to foment tensions and war. By militarizing the Persian Gulf region, U.S. imperialism aims to keep forcing Iraq and other countries to dance to its tune.