In an effort to rally international support for military action in Iraq, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell addressed the United Nations on Wednesday (February 5) morning, outlining what he called Iraq's "policy of evasion and deception" in hiding weapons of mass destruction from U.N. inspectors.
Powell's presentation, titled "Iraq: Failing to Disarm," charged that Iraq continues to develop biological, chemical and nuclear weapons, harbors and supports known terrorists and weaves an elaborate "web of lies" to hide these actions from the world community.
Addressing the specific concerns of the U.N., Powell argued that Iraq is in clear violation of a U.N. weapons resolution issued against the nation. He added that the standing U.N. resolution was implemented as a last chance for Iraq, and that the country's alleged violations demand immediate action.
Powell then unfolded his case before the U.N., revealing taped conversations between Iraqi officials, satellite photos, surveillance video, eyewitness accounts and "facts and conclusions based on solid evidence" that Powell said paint a "deeply troubling" picture. Powell offered recordings alleged to be of conversations between Iraqi officials discussing the need to "clean out the areas" and "make sure there is nothing there" prior to an impending U.N. inspection (see "Who Is Colin Powell?").
The secretary of state then offered what he believed to be visual evidence of just such a clean-up operation, presenting satellite photos of alleged weapons bunkers. One photo, taken prior to a U.N. inspection, showed what Powell believed to be structures and facilities needed to produce chemical weapons. Another photo, taken just as U.N. inspectors arrived at the site, show that the weapons-specific facilities had been broken down and removed.
Powell pointed to those examples and many others as clear evidence that Iraq "never had any intention of cooperating" with U.N. inspections.
The secretary argued that a lack of cooperation on the part of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was being imposed on other key figures in Iraq, including scientists directly involved in the development of biological and chemical weapons. Powell said that the U.S. government has evidence that Hussein warned scientists not to cooperate with U.N. inspectors, placed some scientists under "house arrest" (setting them up at one of his many guest houses) and even faked a death certificate for one scientist before sending him into hiding.
Powell's presentation also outlined the actions of a "committee" that the U.S. believes Iraq established specifically to monitor U.N. inspections. In an attempt to stay one step ahead of the U.N., Powell claims that important files and documents have been hidden in the private homes of government officials and in some cases are even being driven around the country in the backs of cars. The U.S. has also been told that computer hard drives at weapons facilities are often replaced prior to inspections. Powell also accused Iraq of evading U.N. officials by keeping its weapons on the move, claiming that last fall missiles and launchers with biological capabilities were distributed from Baghdad to various points in western Iraq, and have been moved every one to four weeks since.
Iraq's evasive moves are attempting to hide a weapons program that has biological, chemical and nuclear aspirations, Powell said. Through eyewitness accounts, the U.S. has learned that Iraq has developed mobile biological weapons facilities contained in train cars and tractor trailers, according to Powell. The U.S. also believes that Iraq has established "dual-use" facilities, which house legal business, but also contain weapons facilities.
Discussing the specifics of the Iraqi weapons program, Powell claimed that Iraq continues to work with lethal toxins like anthrax, botulism and ricin. Powell also presented video footage of an Iraqi fighter emitting a fine spray that the secretary said was designed to test and simulate biological warfare.
Secretary Powell also claimed that the Iraqi regime continues to work with chemical and nuclear weapons, and noted that Saddam Hussein has already deployed chemical weapons in battles with neighboring countries. The U.S. also has evidence that Hussein has tested biological and chemical weapons on Iraqi prisoners, according to Powell.
The U.S. is also concerned about how these weapons might be deployed, and in whose hands they might fall. Powell pointed to Iraq's alleged ties to terrorism, and specifically linked Iraq and its government to the al Qaeda terrorist network. Powell charged that Iraq has long been a safe haven for key terrorist figures, and pointed to compounds within Iraq believed to be terrorist training camps.
"Saddam Hussein's inhumanity has no limits," Powell said.
Iraq has consistently maintained that it does not have weapons of mass destruction, nor does it have any ties to al Qaeda. In an interview carried in the United Kingdom on Tuesday, Saddam Hussein said boldly, "If we had a relationship with al Qaeda, and we believed in that relationship, we wouldn't be ashamed to admit it."
"Iraq has put itself ... closer to the day where it will face serious consequences for its continued defiance of this council," Powell said in an effort to sway key members of the U.N. Security Council who have been opposed to military action in Iraq.
— Robert Mancini
