[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.