From the IHT: Iraq retains many toxic arms, Powell charges
Brian Knowlton/IHT International Herald Tribune Tuesday, January 28, 2003
>>>>BTW: NOTE OF INTEREST....The IHT has been totally bought by the NYT now...as of a few weeks ago they bought out the WPO's position....KLP<<<<
iht.com
WASHINGTON Baghdad continues to withhold full cooperation from UN inspectors and retains banned weapons that could kill "thousands upon thousands" of people, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Monday, warning that there was "not much more time" for a peaceful solution.
.
"The Iraqi regime continues to defy the will of the United Nations," Powell said a few hours after the top UN weapons inspectors reported on their findings in Iraq.
.
Even while it was offering "passive" cooperation to the inspectors, Powell said, "Iraq continues to conceal vast quantities" of banned biological and chemical weapons that "could kill thousands upon thousands of men, women and children."
.
Powell urged the United Nations to make it clear "that the will of the international community must be obeyed" but said that there was "not much more time" for a peaceful solution.
.
"Iraq's time for choosing peaceful disarmament is fast coming to an end," he said.
.
"This is their last chance."
.
Other U.S. officials offered more detailed objections to Iraq's response to UN demands.
.
"They are not cooperating unconditionally," John Negroponte, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said in New York, minutes after the two top UN inspectors had completed a much-awaited report to the Security Council.
.
Iraq is withholding full cooperation from UN inspectors as they search for weapons of mass destruction, and Baghdad is concealing weapons capable of taking "the lives of hundreds of thousands, if not millions" of people in the region, Negroponte said.
.
But Ari Fleischer, the White House spokesman, said that President George W. Bush was not, for now, seeking to set a new deadline for the inspectors, who said they could use months more for their work.
.
Fleischer hinted that U.S. patience might endure a few more weeks.
.
"The process is continuing," he said, but "time is running out."
.
There was no definitive statement Monday from Iraq, but the crisis is expected to be an important part of Bush's State of the Union speech Tuesday.
.
Fleischer said, however, that domestic issues would be more central - and the Security Council will continue its debate on Wednesday.
.
The president also wanted to await the results of his meeting Friday with Prime Minister Tony Blair.
.
Fleischer and other U.S. officials found several ways to express the limits of their patience.
.
The more time the inspectors get, Fleischer said, "the more they're getting the runaround from Saddam Hussein" - and endless delay could carry too high a price.
.
The president's "biggest fear," Fleischer said, was that Saddam did have biological and chemical weapons that could "take the lives of hundreds of thousands, if not millions" of people.
.
"It is a real fear," he said.
.
He spoke a day after Andrew Card, the White House chief of staff, had said that the United States would do whatever was required "to protect us and the world from a holocaust" at Saddam's hands.
.
U.S. officials, facing strong opposition from France, Germany and some other countries, have stepped back slightly from an earlier insistence that would mark the beginning of a final phase of decision-making.
.
But a senior State Department official reminded reporters Monday that the latest Security Council Resolution, 1441, offered Iraq "a final opportunity" to disarm or face "serious consequences."
.
Fleischer said the United States would continue to consult with its allies and other UN Security Council members, while seeking to "rally the world" for a tough stance on Iraq.
.
He insisted that Bush had not given up hopes for a peaceful solution. "Nobody, but nobody is more reluctant to go to war than President Bush," Fleischer said.
.
But Fleischer said Bush was determined to protect the American people from any disastrous new terror attack of the sort that occurred on Sept. 11, 2001.
.
Nothing in the UN reports by the chief inspector, Hans Blix, or the head of the nuclear monitoring agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, had demonstrated that Iraq was working to avert war, Fleischer said.
.
Pointing to Blix's report, Fleischer said that thousands of Iraq weapons and weapons materials remained unaccounted for, including nerve and biological agents such as anthrax.
.
These were "frightening reminders" of the harm Iraq could do, Fleischer said.
.
Negroponte said that Iraq had failed in the two important tests set by the Security Council: to issue a full and accurate declaration of its banned weapons programs, and to cooperate completely with inspectors.
.
The discovery of a few concealed warheads and of 3,000 pages of Iraqi weapons-related documents that should have been declared, Negroponte said, constituted "physical evidence that the Iraqis' declaration is inaccurate and incomplete."
.
Nor, he said, was it fully cooperating. Inspectors, Negroponte said, could not be expected "to look under every rock" and could not work successfully in a country with "an active program of denial and deception."
.
Both Negroponte and Fleischer said that the Security Council must now "face its responsibilities" and ensure that its demands for Iraqi disarmament not be lightly defied.
.
"It benefits no one to let Saddam Hussein think he can wear us down into the business as usual as he has practiced it over the last 12 years," Negroponte said.
.
Fleischer said that "it remains a test of how relevant the United Nations is."
.
It was not immediately clear if Fleischer, when he mentioned the threat of biological and chemical weapons, intentionally failed to mention nuclear weapons, the third primary class of weapons of mass destruction, or if his failure to do so reflected ElBaradei's finding that Iraq appears to have no illicit nuclear program.
.
Fleischer renewed accusations that the United States believes Iraq has links to the Al Qaeda terror network. He said Al Qaeda prisoners had revealed that Iraq provided chemical weapons training to Al Qaeda.
.
Asked if this had taken place in Iraq or Afghanistan, he said, "We have concerns about both."
.
Secretary of State Colin Powell said Monday that there was no point in giving inspectors more time, though he promised that the administration would study the inspectors' reports.
.
But he also told business and political leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that a U.S.-$ led war was not imminent. Nor did he explicitly call for an end to inspections.
< < Back to Start of Article WASHINGTON Baghdad continues to withhold full cooperation from UN inspectors and retains banned weapons that could kill "thousands upon thousands" of people, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Monday, warning that there was "not much more time" for a peaceful solution.
.
"The Iraqi regime continues to defy the will of the United Nations," Powell said a few hours after the top UN weapons inspectors reported on their findings in Iraq.
.
Even while it was offering "passive" cooperation to the inspectors, Powell said, "Iraq continues to conceal vast quantities" of banned biological and chemical weapons that "could kill thousands upon thousands of men, women and children."
.
Powell urged the United Nations to make it clear "that the will of the international community must be obeyed" but said that there was "not much more time" for a peaceful solution.
.
"Iraq's time for choosing peaceful disarmament is fast coming to an end," he said.
.
"This is their last chance."
.
Other U.S. officials offered more detailed objections to Iraq's response to UN demands.
.
"They are not cooperating unconditionally," John Negroponte, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said in New York, minutes after the two top UN inspectors had completed a much-awaited report to the Security Council.
.
Iraq is withholding full cooperation from UN inspectors as they search for weapons of mass destruction, and Baghdad is concealing weapons capable of taking "the lives of hundreds of thousands, if not millions" of people in the region, Negroponte said.
.
But Ari Fleischer, the White House spokesman, said that President George W. Bush was not, for now, seeking to set a new deadline for the inspectors, who said they could use months more for their work.
.
Fleischer hinted that U.S. patience might endure a few more weeks.
.
"The process is continuing," he said, but "time is running out."
.
There was no definitive statement Monday from Iraq, but the crisis is expected to be an important part of Bush's State of the Union speech Tuesday.
.
Fleischer said, however, that domestic issues would be more central - and the Security Council will continue its debate on Wednesday.
.
The president also wanted to await the results of his meeting Friday with Prime Minister Tony Blair.
.
Fleischer and other U.S. officials found several ways to express the limits of their patience.
.
The more time the inspectors get, Fleischer said, "the more they're getting the runaround from Saddam Hussein" - and endless delay could carry too high a price.
.
The president's "biggest fear," Fleischer said, was that Saddam did have biological and chemical weapons that could "take the lives of hundreds of thousands, if not millions" of people.
.
"It is a real fear," he said.
.
He spoke a day after Andrew Card, the White House chief of staff, had said that the United States would do whatever was required "to protect us and the world from a holocaust" at Saddam's hands.
.
U.S. officials, facing strong opposition from France, Germany and some other countries, have stepped back slightly from an earlier insistence that would mark the beginning of a final phase of decision-making.
.
But a senior State Department official reminded reporters Monday that the latest Security Council Resolution, 1441, offered Iraq "a final opportunity" to disarm or face "serious consequences."
.
Fleischer said the United States would continue to consult with its allies and other UN Security Council members, while seeking to "rally the world" for a tough stance on Iraq.
.
He insisted that Bush had not given up hopes for a peaceful solution. "Nobody, but nobody is more reluctant to go to war than President Bush," Fleischer said.
.
But Fleischer said Bush was determined to protect the American people from any disastrous new terror attack of the sort that occurred on Sept. 11, 2001.
.
Nothing in the UN reports by the chief inspector, Hans Blix, or the head of the nuclear monitoring agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, had demonstrated that Iraq was working to avert war, Fleischer said.
.
Pointing to Blix's report, Fleischer said that thousands of Iraq weapons and weapons materials remained unaccounted for, including nerve and biological agents such as anthrax.
.
These were "frightening reminders" of the harm Iraq could do, Fleischer said.
.
Negroponte said that Iraq had failed in the two important tests set by the Security Council: to issue a full and accurate declaration of its banned weapons programs, and to cooperate completely with inspectors.
.
The discovery of a few concealed warheads and of 3,000 pages of Iraqi weapons-related documents that should have been declared, Negroponte said, constituted "physical evidence that the Iraqis' declaration is inaccurate and incomplete."
.
Nor, he said, was it fully cooperating. Inspectors, Negroponte said, could not be expected "to look under every rock" and could not work successfully in a country with "an active program of denial and deception."
.
Both Negroponte and Fleischer said that the Security Council must now "face its responsibilities" and ensure that its demands for Iraqi disarmament not be lightly defied.
.
"It benefits no one to let Saddam Hussein think he can wear us down into the business as usual as he has practiced it over the last 12 years," Negroponte said.
.
Fleischer said that "it remains a test of how relevant the United Nations is."
.
It was not immediately clear if Fleischer, when he mentioned the threat of biological and chemical weapons, intentionally failed to mention nuclear weapons, the third primary class of weapons of mass destruction, or if his failure to do so reflected ElBaradei's finding that Iraq appears to have no illicit nuclear program.
.
Fleischer renewed accusations that the United States believes Iraq has links to the Al Qaeda terror network. He said Al Qaeda prisoners had revealed that Iraq provided chemical weapons training to Al Qaeda.
.
Asked if this had taken place in Iraq or Afghanistan, he said, "We have concerns about both."
.
Secretary of State Colin Powell said Monday that there was no point in giving inspectors more time, though he promised that the administration would study the inspectors' reports.
.
But he also told business and political leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that a U.S.-$ led war was not imminent. Nor did he explicitly call for an end to inspections. |
