[House Document 108-50]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



108th Congress, 1st Session - - - - - - - - - - - - - House Document 
108-50
 
 A REPORT IN CONNECTION WITH PRESIDENTIAL DETERMINATION UNDER PUBLIC 
                              LAW 107-243

                               __________

                             COMMUNICATION

                                  FROM

                   THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

                              TRANSMITTING

 A REPORT CONSISTENT WITH SECTION 3(b) OF THE AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF 
  MILITARY FORCE AGAINST IRAQ RESOLUTION OF 2002 (PUBLIC LAW 107-243)




 March 19, 2003.--Referred to the Committee on International Relations 
                       and ordered to be printed
                                           The White House,
                                        Washington, March 18, 2003.
Hon. J. Dennis Hastert,
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Speaker: Consistent with section 3(b) of the 
Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution 
of 2002 (Public Law 107-243), and based on information 
available to me, including that in the enclosed document, I 
determine that:
          (1) reliance by the United States on further 
        diplomatic and other peaceful means alone will neither 
        (A) adequately protect the national security of the 
        United States against the continuing threat posed by 
        Iraq nor (B) likely lead to enforcement of all relevant 
        United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding 
        Iraq; and
          (2) acting pursuant to the Constitution and Public 
        Law 107-243 is consistent with the United States and 
        other countries continuing to take the necessary 
        actions against international terrorists and terrorist 
        organizations, including those nations, organizations, 
        or persons who planned, authorized, committed, or aided 
        the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 
        2001.
            Sincerely,
                                                    George W. Bush.
 Report in Connection With Presidential Determination Under Public Law 
                                107-243

    This report summarizes diplomatic and other peaceful means 
pursued by the United States, working for more than a dozen 
years with cooperating foreign countries and international 
organizations such as the United Nations, in an intensive 
effort (1) to protect the national security of the United 
States, as well as the security of other countries, against the 
continuing threat posed by Iraqi development and use of weapons 
of mass destruction, and (2) to obtain Iraqi compliance with 
all relevant United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions 
regarding Iraq. Because of the intransigence and defiance of 
the Iraqi regime, further continuation of these efforts will 
neither adequately protect the national security of the United 
States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq nor likely 
lead to enforcement of all relevant UNSC resolutions regarding 
Iraq.
    This report also explains that a determination to use force 
against Iraq is fully consistent with the United States and 
other countries continuing to take the necessary actions 
against international terrorists and terrorist organizations, 
including those nations, organizations, or persons who planned, 
authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that 
occurred on September 11, 2001. Indeed, as Congress found when 
it passed the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against 
Iraq Resolution of 2002 (Public Law 107-243), Iraq continues to 
harbor and aid international terrorists and terrorist 
organizations, including organizations that threaten the safety 
of United States citizens. The use of military force to remove 
the Iraqi regime is therefore not only consistent with, but is 
a vital part of, the international war on terrorism.
    This document is summary in form rather than a 
comprehensive and definitive rendition of actions taken and 
related factual data that would constitute a complete 
historical record. This document should be considered in light 
of the information that has been, and will be, furnished to 
Congress, including the period reports consistent with the 
Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution 
(Public Law 102-1) and the Authorization for Use of Military 
Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 (Public Law 107-243).

            1. THE GULF WAR AND CONDITIONS OF THE CEASE-FIRE

    On August 2, 1990, President Saddam Hussein of Iraq 
initiated the brutal and unprovoked invasion and occupation of 
Kuwait. The United States and many foreign governments, working 
together and through the UN, sought by diplomatic and other 
peaceful means to compel Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait and to 
establish international peace and security in the region.
    President George H.W. Bush's letter transmitted to Congress 
on January 16, 1991, was accompanied by a report that 
catalogued the extensive diplomatic, economic, and other 
peaceful means pursued by the United States to achieve U.S. and 
UNSC objectives. It details adoption by the UNSC of a dozen 
resolutions, from Resolution 660 of August 2, 1990, demanding 
that Iraw withdraw from Kuwait, to Resolution 678 on November 
29, 1990, authorizing member states to use all necessary means 
to ``implement Resolution 660,'' to implement ``all subsequent 
relevant resolutions,'' and ``to restore international peace 
and security in the area.''
    Despite extraordinary and concerted efforts by the United 
States, other countries, and international organizations 
through diplomacy, multilateral economic sanctions, and other 
peaceful means to bring about Iraqi compliance with UNSC 
resolutions, and even after the UN and the United States 
explicitly informed Iraq that its failure to comply with UNSC 
resolutions would result in the use of armed force to eject 
Iraqi forces from Kuwait, Saddam Hussein's regime remained 
intransigent. The President ordered the U.S. armed forces, 
working in a coalition with the armed forces of other 
cooperating countries, to liberate Kuwait. The coalition forces 
promptly drove Iraqi forces out of Kuwait, set Kuwait free, and 
moved into southern Iraq.
    On April 3, 1991, the UNSC adopted Resolution 687, which 
established conditions for a cease-fire to suspend hostilities. 
Among other requirements, UNSCR 687 required Iraq to (1) 
destroy its chemical and biological weapons and ballistic 
missiles with ranges greater than 150 km; (2) not use, develop, 
construct, or acquire biological, chemical, or nuclear weapons 
and their delivery systems; (3) submit to international 
inspections to verify compliance; and (4) not commit or support 
any act of international terrorism or allow others who commit 
such acts to operate in Iraqi territory. On April 6, 1991, Iraq 
communicated to the UNSC its acceptance of the conditions for 
the cease-fire.

  2. IRAQ'S BREACH OF THE CEASE-FIRE CONDITIONS: THREATS TO PEACE AND 
                                SECURITY

    Since almost the moment it agreed to the conditions of the 
cease-fire, Iraq has committed repeated and escalating breaches 
of those conditions. Throughout the first seven years that Iraq 
accepted inspections, it repeatedly obstructed access to sites 
designated by the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) 
and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). On two 
occasions, in 1993 and 1998, Iraq's refusal to comply with its 
international obligations under the cease-fire led to military 
action by coalition forces. In 1998, under threat of ``severest 
consequences,'' Iraq signed a Memorandum of Understanding 
pledging full cooperation with UNSCOM and IAEA and ``immediate, 
unconditional and unrestricted'' access for their inspections. 
In a matter of months, however, the Iraqi regime suspended 
cooperation, in part an effort to condition compliance on the 
lifting of oil sanctions; it ultimately ceased all cooperation, 
causing the inspectors to leave the country.
    On December 17, 1999, after a year with no inspections in 
Iraq, the UNSC established the United Nations Monitoring, 
Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) as a successor 
to UNSCOM, to address unresolved disarmament issues and verify 
Iraqi compliance with the disarmament required by UNSCR 687 and 
related resolutions. Iraq refused to allow inspectors to return 
for yet another three years.

     3. RECENT DIPLOMATIC AND OTHER PEACEFUL MEANS REJECTED BY IRAQ

    On September 12, 2002, the President addressed the United 
Nations General Assembly on Iraq. He challenged the United 
Nations to act decisively to deal with Iraq's systematic 
twelve-year defiance and to compel Iraq's disarmament of the 
weapons of mass destruction and delivery systems that continue 
to threaten international peace and security. The White House 
background paper, ``A Decade of Deception and Defiance: Saddam 
Hussein's Defiance of the United Nations'' (September 12, 
2002), summarized Iraq's actions as of the time the President 
initiated intensified efforts to enforce all relevant UN 
Resolutions and demonstrates the failure of diplomacy to affect 
Iraq's conduct:

        For more than a decade, Saddam Hussein has deceived and 
        defied the will and resolutions of the United Nations 
        Security Council by, among other things: continuing to 
        seek and develop chemical, biological, and nuclear 
        weapons, and prohibited long-range missiles; 
        brutalizing the Iraqi people, including committing 
        gross human rights violations and crimes against 
        humanity; supporting international terrorism; refusing 
        to release or account for prisoners of war and other 
        missing individuals from the Gulf War era; refusing to 
        return stolen Kuwaiti property; and working to 
        circumvent the UN's economic sanctions.

    The President also summarized Iraq's response to a decade 
of diplomatic efforts and its breach of the cease-fire 
conditions on October 7, 2002, in an address in Cincinnati, 
Ohio:

          Eleven years ago, as a condition for ending the 
        Persian Gulf War, the Iraqi regime was required to 
        destroy its weapons of mass destruction, to cease all 
        development of such weapons, and to stop all support 
        for terrorist groups. The Iraqi regime has violated all 
        of those obligations. It possesses and produces 
        chemical and biological weapons. It is seeking nuclear 
        weapons. It has given shelter and support to terrorism, 
        and practices terror against its own people. The entire 
        world has witnessed Iraq's eleven-year history of 
        defiance, deception and bad faith.

    In response to the President's challenge of September 12, 
2002, and after intensive negotiation and diplomacy, the UNSC 
unanimously adopted UNSCR 1441 on November 8, 2002. The UNSC 
declared that Iraq ``has been and remains in material breach'' 
of its disarmament obligations, but chose to afford Iraq one 
``final opportunity'' to comply. The UNSC again placed the 
burden on Iraq to comply and disarm and not on the inspectors 
to try to find what Iraq is concealing. The UNSC made clear 
that any false statements or omissions in declarations and any 
failure by Iraq to comply with UNSCR 1441 would constitute a 
further material breach of Iraq's obligations. Rather than 
seizing this final opportunity for a peaceful solution by 
giving full and immediate cooperation, the Hussein regime 
responded with renewed defiance and deception.
    For example, while UNSCR 1441 required that Iraq provide a 
``currently accurate, full and complete'' declaration of all 
aspects of its weapons of mass destruction (``WMD'') and 
delivery programs, Iraq's Declaration of December 7, 2002, 
failed to comply with that requirement. The 12,000-page 
document that Iraq provided was little more than a restatement 
of old and discredited material. It was incomplete, inaccurate, 
and composed mostly of recycled information that failed to 
address any of the outstanding disarmament questions inspectors 
had previously identified.
    In addition, since the passage of UNSCR 1441, Iraq has 
failed to cooperate fully with inspectors. It delayed until 
two-and-a-half months after the resumption of inspections 
UNMOVIC's use of aerial surveillance flights; failed to provide 
private access to officials for interview by inspectors; 
intimidated witnesses with threats; undertook massive efforts 
to deceive and defeat inspectors, including cleanup and 
transshipment activities at nearly 30 sites; failed to provide 
numerous documents requested by UNMOVIC; repeatedly provided 
incomplete or outdated listings of its WMD personnel; and hid 
documents in homes, including over 2000 pages of Iraqi 
documents regarding past uranium enrichment programs. In a 
report dated March 6, 2003, UNMOVIC described over 600 
instances in which Iraq had failed to declare fully activities 
related to its chemical, biological, or missile procurement.
    Dr. Hans Blix, Executive Chairman of UNMOVIC, reported to 
the UNSC on January 27, 2003 that ``Iraq appears not to have 
come to a genuine acceptance, not even today, of the 
disarmament which was demanded of it.'' Dr. Mohamed El Baradei, 
Director General of the IAEA, reported that Iraq's declaration 
of December 7 ``did not provide any new information relevant to 
certain questions that have been outstanding since 1998.'' Both 
demonstrated that there was no evidence that Iraq had decided 
to comply with disarmament obligations. Diplomatic efforts have 
not affected Iraq's conduct positively. Any temporary changes 
in Iraq's approach that have occurred over the years have been 
in response to the threat of use of force.
    On February 5, 2003, the Secretary of State delivered a 
comprehensive presentation to the UNSC using declassified 
information, including human intelligence reports, 
communications intercepts and overhead imagery, which 
demonstrated Iraq's ongoing efforts to pursue WMD programs and 
conceal them from UN inspectors. The Secretary of State updated 
that presentation one month later by detailing intelligence 
reports on continuing efforts by Iraq to maintain and conceal 
proscribed materials.
    Despite the continued resistance by Iraq, the United States 
has continued to use diplomatic and other peaceful means to 
achieve complete and total disarmament that would adequately 
protect the national security of the United States from the 
threat posed by Iraq and which is required by all relevant UNSC 
resolutions. On March 7, 2003, the United States, United 
Kingdom, and Spain presented a draft resolution that would have 
established for Iraq a March 17 deadline to cooperate fully 
with disarmament demands. Since the adoption of UNSCR 1441 in 
November 2002, there have been numerous calls and meetings by 
President Bush and the Secretary of State with other world 
leaders to try to find a diplomatic or other peaceful way to 
disarm Iraq. On March 13, 2003, the U.S. Ambassador to the UN 
asked for members of the UNSC to consider seriously a British 
proposal to establish six benchmarks that would be used to 
measure whether or not the regime in Iraq is coming into full, 
immediate, and unconditional compliance with the pertinent UN 
resolutions. On March 16, 2003, the President traveled to the 
Azores to meet with Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Manuel Durao 
Barroso, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Spanish Prime 
Minister Jose Maria Aznar to assess the situation and confirm 
that diplomatic and other peaceful means have been attempted to 
achieve Iraqi compliance with all relevant UNSC resolutions. 
Despite these diplomatic and peaceful efforts, Iraq remains in 
breach of relevant UNSC resolutions and a threat to the United 
States and other countries. Further diplomatic efforts were 
suspended reluctantly after, as the President observed on March 
17, ``some permanent members of the Security Council ha[d] 
publicly announced they will veto any resolution that compels 
the disarmament of Iraq.''
    The lesson learned after twelve years of Iraqi defiance is 
that the appearance of progress on process is meaningless--what 
is necessary is immediate, active, and unconditional 
cooperation in the complete disarmament of Iraq's prohibited 
weapons. As a result of its repeated failure to cooperate with 
efforts aimed at actual disarmament, Iraq has retained weapons 
of mass destruction that it agreed, as an essential condition 
of the cease-fire in 1991, not to develop or possess. The 
Secretary of State's February 5, 2003, presentation cited 
examples, such as Iraq's biological weapons based on anthrax 
and botulinum toxin, chemical weapons based on mustard and 
nerve agents, proscribed missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles 
to deliver weapons of mass destruction, and mobile biological 
weapons factories. The Secretary of State also discussed with 
the Security Council Saddam Hussein's efforts to reconstitute 
Iraq's nuclear weapons program.
    The dangers posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and 
long-range missiles are clear. Saddam Hussein has already used 
such weapons, repeatedly. He used them against Iranian troops 
in the 1980s. He used ballistic missiles against civilians 
during the Gulf War, firing Scud missiles into Israel and Saudi 
Arabia. He used chemical weapons against the Iraqi people in 
Northern Iraq. As Congress stated in 1998 in Public Law 105-
235, ``Iraq's continuing weapons of mass destruction programs 
threaten vital United States interests and international peace 
and security.'' Congress concluded in Public Law 105-388 that 
``[i]t should be the policy of the United States to support 
efforts to remove the regime headed by Saddam Hussein from 
power in Iraq and to promote the emergence of a democratic 
government to replace that regime.''
    In addition, Congress states in the Authorization for Use 
of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 (Public Law 
107-243), that:

          Iraq both poses a continuing threat to the national 
        security of the United States and international peace 
        and security in the Persian Gulf region and remains in 
        material and unacceptable breach of its international 
        obligations by, among other things, continuing to 
        possess and develop a significant chemical and 
        biological weapons capability, actively seeking a 
        nuclear weapons capability, and supporting and 
        harboring terrorist organizations.

    Nothing that has occurred in the past twelve years, the 
past twelve months, the past twelve weeks, or the past twelve 
days provides any basis for concluding that further diplomatic 
or other peaceful means will adequately protect the national 
security of the United States from the continuing threat posed 
by Iraq or are likely to lead to enforcement of all relevant 
UNSC resolutions regarding Iraq and the restoration of peace 
and security in the area.
    As the President stated on March 17, ``[t]he Iraqi regime 
has used diplomacy as a ploy to gain time and advantage.'' 
Further delay in taking action against Iraq will only serve to 
give Saddam Hussein's regime additional time to further develop 
WMD to use against the United States, its citizens, and its 
allies. The United States and the UN have long demanded 
immediate, active, and unconditional cooperation by Iraq in the 
disarmament of its weapons of mass destruction. There is no 
reason to believe that Iraq will disarm, and cooperate with 
inspections to verify such disarmament, if the U.S. and the UN 
employ only diplomacy and other peaceful means.

   4. USE OF FORCE AGAINST IRAQ IS CONSISTENT WITH THE WAR ON TERROR

    In Public Law 107-243, Congress made a number of findings 
concerning Iraq's support for international terrorism. Among 
other things, Congress determined that:
     Members of al Qaida, an organization bearing 
responsibility for attacks on the United States, its citizens, 
and interests, including the attacks that occurred on September 
11, 2001, are known to be in Iraq.
     Iraq continues to aid and harbor other 
international terrorist organizations, including organizations 
that threaten the lives and safety of United States citizens.
     It is in the national security interests of the 
United States and in furtherance of the war on terrorism that 
all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions be 
enforced, including through the use of force if necessary.
    In addition, the Secretary of State's address to the UN on 
February 5, 2003 revealed a terrorist training area in 
northeastern Iraq with ties to Iraqi intelligence and 
activities of al Qaida affiliates in Baghdad. Public reports 
indicate that Iraq is currently harboring senior members of a 
terrorist network led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a close al Qaida 
associate. In addition, Iraq has provided training in document 
forgery and explosives to al Qaida. Other terrorist groups have 
been supported by Iraq over past years.
    Iraq has a long history of supporting terrorism and 
continues to be a safe haven, transit point, and operational 
node for groups and individuals who direct violence against the 
United States and our allies. These actions violate Iraq's 
obligations under the UNSCR 687 cease-fire not to commit or 
support any act of international terrorism or allow others who 
commit such acts to operate in Iraqi territory. Iraq has also 
failed to comply with its cease-fire obligations to disarm and 
submit to international inspections to verify compliance. In 
light of these Iraqi activities, the use of force by the United 
States and other countries against the current Iraqi regime is 
fully consistent with--indeed, it is an integral part of--the 
war against international terrorists and terrorist 
organizations.
    Both because Iraq harbors terrorists and because Iraq could 
share weapons of mass destruction with terrorists who seek them 
for use against the United States, the use of force to bring 
Iraq into compliance with its obligations under UNSC 
resolutions would be a significant contribution to the war on 
terrorists of global reach. A change in the current Iraqi 
regime would eliminate an important source of support for 
international terrorist activities. It would likely also assist 
efforts to disrupt terrorist networks and capture terrorists 
around the globe. United States Government personnel operating 
in Iraq may discover information through Iraqi government 
documents and interviews with detained Iraqi officials that 
would identify individuals currently in the United States and 
abroad who are linked to terrorist organizations.
    The use of force against Iraq will directly advance the war 
on terror, and will be consistent with continuing efforts 
against international terrorists residing and operating 
elsewhere in the world. The U.S. armed forces remain engaged in 
key areas around the world in the prosecution of the war on 
terrorism. The necessary preparations for and conduct of 
military operations in Iraq have not diminished the resolve, 
capability, or activities of the United States to pursue 
international terrorists to protect our homeland. Nor will the 
use of military force against Iraq distract civilian 
departments and agencies of the United States Government from 
continuing aggressive efforts in combating terrorism, or divert 
resources from the overall world-wide counter-terrorism effort. 
Current counter-terrorism investigations and activities will 
continue during any military conflict, and winning the war on 
terrorism will remain the top priority for our Government.
    Indeed, the United States has made significant progress on 
other fronts in the war on terror even while Iraq and its 
threat to the United States and other countries have been a 
focus of concern. Since November 2002, when deployments of 
forces to the Gulf were substantially increased, the United 
States, in cooperation with our allies, has arrested or 
captured several terrorists and frustrated several terrorist 
plots. For example, on March 1, 2003, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed 
was captured in Rawalpindi, Pakistan by Pakistani authorities, 
with U.S. cooperation. The capture of Sheikh Mohammed, the al 
Qaida ``mastermind'' of the September 11th attacks and Usama 
Bin Laden's senior terrorist attack planner, is a severe blow 
to al Qaida that will destabilize the terrorist network 
worldwide. This and other successes make clear that the United. 
States Government remains focused on the war on terror, and 
that use of force in Iraq is fully consistent with continuing 
to take necessary actions against terrorists and terrorist 
organizations.

                             5. CONCLUSION

    In the circumstances described above, the President of the 
United States has the authority--indeed, given the dangers 
involved, the duty--to use force against Iraq to protect the 
security of the American people and to compel compliance with 
UNSC resolutions.
    The President has full authority to use the armed forces in 
Iraq under the U.S. Constitution, including his authority as 
Commander in Chief of the U.S. armed forces. This authority is 
supported by explicit statutory authorizations contained in the 
Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution 
(Public Law 102-1) and the Authorization for Use of Military 
Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 (Public Law 107-243).
    In addition, U.S. action is consistent with the UN Charter. 
The UNSC, acting under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, provided 
that member states, including the United States, have the right 
to use force in Iraq to maintain or restore international peace 
and security. The Council authorized the use of force in UNSCR 
678 with respect to Iraq in 1990. This resolution--on which the 
United States has relied continuously and with the full 
knowledge of the UNSC to use force in 1993, 1996, and 1998 and 
to enforce the no-fly zones--remains in effect today. In UNSCR 
1441, the UNSC unanimously decided again that Iraq has been and 
remains in material breach of its obligations under relevant 
resolutions and would face serious consequences if it failed 
immediately to disarm. And, of course, based on existing facts, 
including the nature and type of the threats posed by Iraq, the 
United States may always proceed in the exercise of its 
inherent right of self defense, recognized in Article 51 of the 
UN Charter.
    Accordingly, the United States has clear authority to use 
military force against Iraq to assure its national security and 
to compel Iraq's compliance with applicable UNSC resolutions.

                                
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