    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book I)]
    [February 6, 2003]
    [Pages 135-137]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on the Iraqi Regime's Noncompliance With United Nations
    Resolutions
    February 6, 2003

        The Secretary of State has now briefed
    the United Nations Security Council on Iraq's illegal weapons programs,
    its attempts to hide those weapons, and its links to terrorist groups. I
    want to thank Secretary Powell for his careful and powerful presentation
    of the facts.
        The information in the Secretary's
    briefing and other information in our possession was obtained through
    great skill and often at personal risk. Uncovering secret information in
    a totalitarian society is one of the most difficult intelligence
    challenges. Those who accept that challenge, both in our intelligence
    services and in those of our friends and allies, perform a great service
    to all free nations, and I'm grateful for their good work.
        The Iraqi regime's violations of Security Council resolutions are
    evident, 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 materiels and to hide or intimidate key experts and scientists,
    all in direct defiance of Security Council 1441.
        This deception is directed from the highest levels of the Iraqi
    regime, including Saddam Hussein, his son,
    the Vice President, and the very official responsible for cooperating
    with inspectors. In intercepted conversations, we have heard orders to
    conceal materiels from the U.N. inspectors. And we have seen through
    satellite images concealment activity at close to 30 sites, including
    movement of equipment before inspectors arrive.
        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. Using these factories, Iraq could
    produce within just months hundreds of pounds of biological poisons.
        The Iraqi regime has acquired and tested the means to deliver
    weapons of mass destruction. All the world has now seen the footage of
    an Iraqi Mirage aircraft with a fuel tank modified to spray biological
    agents over wide areas. Iraq has developed spray devices that could be
    used on unmanned aerial vehicles with ranges far beyond what is
    permitted by the Security Council. A UAV launched from a vessel off the
    American coast could reach hundreds of miles inland.
        Iraq has never accounted for thousands of bombs and shells capable
    of delivering

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    chemical weapons. The regime 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 the world 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 Qaida have met at least eight times
    since the early 1990s. Iraq has sent bomb-making and document forgery
    experts to work with Al Qaida. Iraq has also provided Al Qaida with
    chemical and biological weapons training.
        We also know that Iraq is harboring a terrorist network headed by a
    senior Al Qaida terrorist planner. The network runs a poison and
    explosive training center in northeast Iraq, and many of its leaders are
    known to be in Baghdad. The head of this network traveled to Baghdad for
    medical treatment and stayed for months. Nearly two dozen associates
    joined him there and have been operating in Baghdad for more than 8
    months.
        The same terrorist network operating out of Iraq is responsible for
    the murder, the recent murder, of an American citizen, an American
    diplomat, Laurence Foley. The same network has plotted terrorism against
    France, Spain, Italy, Germany, the Republic of Georgia, and Russia, and
    was caught producing poisons in London. The danger Saddam
    Hussein poses reaches across the world.
        This is the situation as we find it. Twelve years after Saddam
    Hussein agreed to disarm and 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 that chance away.
        The dictator of Iraq is making his
    choice. Now the nations of the Security Council must make their own. On
    November 8, by demanding the immediate disarmament of Iraq, the United
    Nations Security Council spoke with clarity and authority. Now the
    Security Council will show whether its words have any meaning. 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 which
    makes clear that the Security Council stands behind its previous
    demands. Yet resolutions mean little without resolve. And the United
    States, along with a growing coalition of nations, is resolved to take
    whatever action is necessary to defend ourselves and disarm the Iraqi
    regime.
        On September the 11th, 2001, the American people saw what terrorists
    could do by turning four airplanes into weapons. We will not wait to see
    what terrorists or terrorist states could do with chemical, biological,
    radiological, or nuclear weapons. Saddam Hussein can now be expected to begin another round of empty
    concessions, transparently false denials. No doubt, he will play a last-
    minute game of deception. The game is over.
        All the world can rise to this moment. The community of free nations
    can show that it is strong and confident and determined to keep the
    peace. The United Nations can renew its purpose and be a source of
    stability and security in the world. The Security Council can affirm
    that it is able and prepared to meet future challenges and other
    dangers. And we can give the Iraqi people their chance to live in
    freedom and choose their own government.
        Saddam Hussein has made Iraq into a
    prison, a poison factory, and a torture chamber for patriots and
    dissidents. Saddam Hussein has the motive and the means and the
    recklessness and the hatred to

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    threaten the American people. Saddam Hussein will be stopped.
        Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 4:33 p.m. in the Roosevelt Room at the
    White House. In his remarks, he referred to President Saddam Hussein of
    Iraq.