Mokhiber: Ari, this week marks the 20th anniversary of the massacre at Sabra and Shatilla where 1,700 Palestinians were killed. Ariel Sharon was found by an Israeli Commission of Inquiry to be personally responsible for that event. Also, this year marks the slaughter in Hama, Syria of 20,000 Syrians by the Assad regime. My question is, why aren't we seeking regime changes in those two countries given the nature of those two leaders?

Ari Fleischer: As I said yesterday, no nation on earth is like Iraq. That is why the United Nations has spoken out as often as it has and as repeatedly as it has for over a decade asking Iraq to comply with UN resolutions in the past, and it has failed to do so. No nation represents the threat to peace on earth that Iraq does because of its attempt to get weapons of mass destruction, because of its militaristic recent history, where it has shown an willingness and ability to invade its neighbors and attack its neighbors. No other nation is like that, and that's why I reject any comparisons to those nations.

Mokhiber: If I could follow up. Israel itself reportedly has 20 to 40 nuclear weapons. So, it has [nuclear] weapons, and its current leader has been found personally responsible for a slaughter in Lebanon.

Ari Fleischer: Again, I don't think you can compare any other nation on earth to Iraq. The comparison is faulty.

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-Thanks to Russell Mokhiber

White House reporter Russell Mokhiber is the editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Corporate Crime Reporter - www.corporatecrimereporter.com. He co-authors the weekly Focus on the Corporation column with Robert Weissman which Common Dreams publishes. He can be reached at: russell@nationalpress.com