[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 7 (Monday, February 16, 1998)]
[Pages 227-228]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

February 7, 1998

    President Clinton. Good morning. Today, I am pleased to be joined by 
an honored guest of our Nation, Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United 
Kingdom. We are speaking to you from the Map Room in the White House, 
where more than half a century ago, President Franklin Roosevelt and 
Prime Minister Winston Churchill charted our path to victory in World 
War II.
    As Eleanor Roosevelt said, that was no ordinary time. But neither is 
the new era we are entering. At home, we must prepare all our citizens 
to succeed in the information age. And abroad, we must not only take 
advantage of real new possibilities but combat a new nexus of threats, 
none more dangerous than chemical and biological weapons and the 
terrorists, criminals, and outlaw states that seek to acquire them.
    As we face the challenges of the 21st century, the alliance between 
the United States and the United Kingdom remains unshakable. I'd like to 
ask Prime Minister Blair to say a word about what we have achieved 
together this week.
    Prime Minister Blair. Thank you. And thank you for asking me to 
share in your weekly address to the American people.
    Britain and America have so much in common: language, values, belief 
in family and community, and a real sense of national pride. We share 
many problems, too, and it has been clear from our discussions that we 
are agreed, in general terms, about some of the solutions.
    You took the tough decisions needed for long-term economic 
stability. We are doing so. You have focused on education, welfare 
reform, a new approach to crime. So are we. Together, we are breaking 
down boundaries of left and right and creating a new politics of the 
radical center.
    But no issue has been more pressing in our discussions than the 
threat to world peace and stability posed by Saddam Hussein. I stand 
four square with you in our determination to bring Saddam into line with 
the agreement he made at the end of the Gulf war. This is a man who has 
already compiled sufficient chemical and biological weapons to wipe out 
the world's population.
    When he invaded Kuwait, people could see easily a wrong being 
committed. But what he is doing now, in continuing to defy the 
international community, in continuing to develop his program for 
weapons of mass destruction, is potentially far more dangerous. Simply, 
he must be stopped.
    We are pursuing all the diplomatic avenues open to us. But if they 
fail and force is the only way to get him into line, then force must be 
used. If that happens, Britain will be there, as we have been in the 
past, at the forefront in our determination to uphold international 
peace and security.
    President Clinton. Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister. On Iraq, as on so 
many issues, the United States and Britain speak with one voice.
    Since the end of the Gulf war, the United Nations inspectors in Iraq 
have done a remarkable job. They have found and destroyed 38,000 
chemical weapons, more than 100,000 gallons of the agents used in those 
weapons, 48 missiles, 30 warheads specially fitted for chemical and 
biological weapons, and a large plant for producing deadly biological 
agents on a massive scale.
    But their job is not yet done. Iraq continues to conceal chemical 
and biological weapons, and missiles that can deliver them. And Iraq has 
the capacity to quickly restart production of these weapons.
    The United States and Britain are determined to prevent Saddam 
Hussein from threatening the world with weapons of mass destruction 
again. Now, the best way to do that is to get the inspectors back on the 
job,

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with full and free access to all the sites, so they can root out 
whatever else needs to be destroyed and then continue to monitor suspect 
sites. It's up to Saddam to make that happen. If he doesn't, we must 
be--and we are--prepared to act. As we speak, the British aircraft 
carrier Invincible is patrolling the waters of the Persian Gulf with 
America's 5th Fleet. United with our allies abroad, we are also united 
here at home. I thank the many Republicans and Democrats who have 
expressed strong support for our stand against this menace to global 
security. No one should doubt our resolve.
    Throughout the 20th century, the alliance between the United States 
and Britain made all the difference between tyranny and freedom, chaos 
and security. Now, we are turning to face the challenges of a new 
century. And together, we will again prevail.
    Thanks for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 6:40 p.m. on February 6 in the Map 
Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on February 7. In 
his remarks, the President referred to President Saddam Hussein of Iraq.