For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
February 8, 2003
President's Radio Address
Audio
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. On Wednesday, Secretary of State
Powell briefed the United Nations Security Council on Iraq's illegal
weapons program, its attempts to hide those weapons, and its links to
terrorist groups.
The Iraqi regime's violations of Security Council Resolutions are
evident, they are dangerous to America and the world, and they continue
to this hour.
The regime has never accounted for a vast arsenal of deadly,
biological and chemical weapons. To the contrary, the regime is
pursuing an elaborate campaign to conceal its weapons materials and to
hide or intimidate key experts and scientists. This effort of
deception is directed from the highest levels of the Iraqi regime,
including Saddam Hussein, his son, Iraq's vice president and the very
official responsible for cooperating with inspectors.
The Iraqi regime has actively and secretly attempted to obtain
equipment needed to produce chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.
Firsthand witnesses have informed us that Iraq has at least seven
mobile factories for the production of biological agents -- equipment
mounted on trucks and rails to evade discovery.
The Iraqi regime has acquired and tested the means to deliver
weapons of mass destruction. It has never accounted for thousands of
bombs and shells capable of delivering chemical weapons. It is
actively pursuing components for prohibited ballistic missiles. And we
have sources that tell us that Saddam Hussein recently authorized Iraqi
field commanders to use chemical weapons -- the very weapons the
dictator tells us he does not have.
One of the greatest dangers we face is that weapons of mass
destruction might be passed to terrorists who would not hesitate to use
those weapons. Saddam Hussein has longstanding, direct and continuing
ties to terrorist networks. Senior members of Iraqi intelligence and
al Qaeda have met at least eight times since the early 1990s. Iraq has
sent bomb-making and document forgery experts to work with al Qaeda.
Iraq has also provided al Qaeda with chemical and biological weapons
training. And an al Qaeda operative was sent to Iraq several times in
the late 1990s for help in acquiring poisons and gases.
We also know that Iraq is harboring a terrorist network headed by a
senior al Qaeda terrorist planner. This network runs a poison and
explosive training camp in northeast Iraq, and many of its leaders are
known to be in Baghdad.
This is the situation as we find it -- 12 years after Saddam
Hussein agreed to disarm and more than 90 days after the Security
Council passed Resolution 1441 by a unanimous vote. Saddam Hussein was
required to make a full declaration of his weapons programs. He has
not done so. Saddam Hussein was required to fully cooperate in the
disarmament of his regime. He has not done so. Saddam Hussein was
given a final chance. He is throwing away that chance.
Having made its demands, the Security Council must not back down
when those demands are defied and mocked by a dictator. The United
States would welcome and support a new resolution making clear that the
Security Council stands behinds its previous demands. Yet, resolutions
mean little without resolve. And the United States, along with a
growing coalition of nations, will take whatever action is necessary to
defend ourselves and disarm the Iraqi regime.
Thank you for listening.
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