[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 104 (Tuesday, July 15, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H6849-H6850]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HUSSEIN HIDING WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION
(Mr. BURGESS asked and was given permission to address the House for
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I have heard tonight several concerns about
our ability to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and whether
that indicates the prewar intelligence on Iraq's program was either
incorrect or biased.
Where those weapons are today falls into several categories. Of
course, they could still be hidden. Saddam had become a master of
concealment. Please remember that in 1995 the United Nations was
preparing to lift sanctions believing that Iraq had disarmed. It was
only the defection of Saddam's son-in-law and the revelations that
significant weapons were present that halted the U.N. from lifting
those sanctions.
Perhaps Saddam did destroy the weapons after the inspectors left in
1998. Why in the world then given the costs to him would he not be
forthcoming about that?
Please remember the burden of proof is clearly still on Saddam, not
the United States, not the President of the United States or the United
Nations to demonstrate that the destruction of weapons had occurred.
Possibly the weapons had degraded over time or were destroyed in the
bombing; but again, why would Saddam not be forthcoming and say so?
I believe Congress is exercising its oversight authority and has set
in place procedures to review comprehensively and on a bipartisan basis
the intelligence surrounding Iraq prior to the outbreak of the war and
to take into account any of the dissident views on the Iraq threat
within the intelligence community.
The United States Armed Forces are still trying to pacify sectors of
Iraq and deal with daily attacks on U.S. soldiers west and north of
Bagdad. People who have lived in a police state with no freedom of
speech are unlikely to volunteer information until stability and
security are achieved in Iraq.
After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, it became apparent
that the United States needed to be more vigilant about terrorism and
weapons proliferation, and pay particular attention to the prospect of
weapons of mass destruction (WMD) falling into the hands of groups or
states that would use them against American interests, either at home
or abroad. While Saddam Hussein had been essentially ``contained''
within Iraq for a dozen years, by 2002 it was clear that the sanctions
designed to prevent him from re-arming had fallen apart. More and more
foreign countries were trading with Iraq in defiance of the United
Nations (UN) sanctions. There was also widespread international
agreement that Hussein had not given up his efforts to acquire banned
weapons.
Iraq's expulsion of UN weapons inspectors had made it virtually
impossible to monitor his activities. Most governments around the
world--and the United Nations itself--believed Hussein's Iraq had not
disarmed itself of the lethal weapons it was known to have possessed.
In early 2003, the United Nations confirmed that Iraq had hidden its
chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons programs, built missiles
exceeding the range limits set by the Security Council, and failed to
cooperate with inspectors. Instead of disarming, Iraq responded with
false claims and empty declarations.
The Bush Administration, the Clinton Administration, and the United
Nations all agree that Hussein possessed a significant biological and
chemical capability in 1998 when the inspectors were withdrawn. There
is broad agreement that Hussein, different from any other leader, had
proven himself capable of using these weapons for offensive purposes
and not merely in a defensive posture.
Where those weapons are today falls into one of several categories:
1. They are hidden--Hussein has become a master of concealment.
Please remember in 1995 the United Nations was preparing to lift
sanctions believing that Iraq had disarmed. It was only the defection
of Hussein Kamel and the revelation that significant weapons were
present that halted the UN from lifting the sanctions.
2. Hussein did destroy the weapons after the inspectors left in 1998.
While this is unlikely given his other behavior, the burden of proof
was clearly still on Hussein--not the United States, nor President
Bush, and not the United Nations--to demonstrate the destruction of
weapons had occurred.
3. The weapons had degraded over time or were destroyed in the
bombing or looted during the combat phase of Iraqi Freedom.
The American soldiers who fought in Iraq did so with skill,
determination and bravery in the face of grave dangers. Their conquest
of Iraq was a rapid, overwhelming success; and victory was attained
with relatively limited civilian casualties or damage to Iraq's
infrastructure. All Americans can be proud of the performance of our
armed forces in Iraq and we can unite in honoring the memory of those
courageous soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect their
fellow Americans.
The United States has had a positive impact since the military
operation in Iraq. A brutal dictator has been removed. The revelation
of mass graves in Iraq has only confirmed what
[[Page H6850]]
we suspected: that the people most threatened by Saddam Hussein's rule
of terror were the oppressed Iraqi citizens.
The disorder and political uncertainty we are witnessing in postwar
Iraq, while at one level unsettling, is to some extent a reflection of
how completely Saddam Hussein's Baathist regime dominated and dictated
Iraqi life. International economic sanctions against Iraq have been
lifted, and the international community is beginning to get involved in
the reconstruction of Iraq.
The removal of Hussein has also improved the regional security
situation in the Middle East. Syria has made commitments to crack down
on terrorist offices in Damascus; Iranian opponents of the clerical
regime in Tehran have been emboldened; the removal of the Iraqi threat
has enabled the United States to announce we will end the controversial
stationing of U.S. forces in Saudi Arabia; and, the release of the
``road map'' has re-energized the difficult but critical search for
peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
There are efforts in the Congress to employ a full investigation into
these difficult issues to understand whether mistakes were made, and to
take action to fix them, in fulfillment of Congress's important
oversight responsibilities. To date, the chairmen of the Senate Armed
Services Committee, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and the
House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence reject a broader probe
of the WMD issue.
The Coalition forces in Iraq have investigated approxiamely 200 of
1,000 potential sites. New information continues to come to the
attention of the Coalition forces as members of Hussein's regime come
forward. Since we do not know the outcome of these efforts, calls for
an investigation seem premature at best.
Finally, we are beginning to see evidence that America's readiness to
act against Saddam may be encouraging better behavior by other rogue
states like North Korea and Sudan, which may increase the chances of
peaceful resolution of our disputes with them as well.
I know there are concerns about our failure to find weapons of mass
destruction (WMD) in Iraq, and whether that indicates that the prewar
intelligence on Iraq's WMD was either incorrect or biased. There have
been some challenges hampering the Administration's efforts to locate
Iraq's WMD program, such as Hussein's 12-year practice of WMD
concealment and deception, reluctance of Iraqi WMD scientists to
discuss their past works and fears of reprisal, and the looting of
suspected WMD sites.
I believe Congress is exercising its oversight authority and has set
in place procedures to review comprehensively, and on a bipartisan
basis, the intelligence surrounding Iraq prior to the outbreak of war,
and to take account of any dissident views on the Iraqi threat within
the intelligence community. The U.S. armed forces are still trying to
pacify sectors of Iraq and to deal with daily attacks on U.S. soldiers
west and north of Baghdad. People who have lived in a police state with
no freedom of speech are unlikely to volunteer information until
stability and security are achieved in Iraq. We must all remember, 30
years of living under a dictatorship cannot be reversed overnight.
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