[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 50 (Monday, December 16, 2002)]
[Page 2138]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

December 7, 2002

    Good morning. This weekend is the deadline for the Iraqi regime to 
fully disclose to the U.N. Security Council all of its weapons of mass 
destruction. Disarming that regime is a central commitment of the war on 
terror. We must, and we will, prevent terrorist groups and outlaw 
regimes from threatening the American people with catastrophic harm.
    Saddam Hussein has been under a duty to disarm for more than a 
decade, yet he has consistently and systematically violated that 
obligation and undermined U.N. inspections. And he only admitted to a 
massive biological weapons program after being confronted with the 
evidence.
    Now the U.N. Security Council and the United States have told Saddam 
Hussein: The game is over. Saddam Hussein will fully disarm himself of 
weapons of mass destruction, and if he does not, America will lead a 
coalition to disarm him.
    As the new inspections process proceeds, the United States will be 
making only one judgment: Has Saddam Hussein changed his behavior of the 
last 11 years and decided to cooperate willingly and comply completely, 
or has he not?
    Inspections will work only if Iraq complies fully and in good faith. 
Inspectors do not have the duty or the ability to uncover terrible 
weapons hidden in a vast country. The responsibility of inspectors is 
simply to confirm evidence of voluntary and total disarmament. Saddam 
Hussein has the responsibility to provide that evidence, as directed, 
and in full.
    The world expects more than Iraq's cooperation with inspectors. The 
world expects and requires Iraq's complete, willing, and prompt 
disarmament. It is not enough for Iraq to merely open doors for 
inspectors. Compliance means bringing all requested information and 
evidence out into full view to show that Iraq has abandoned the 
deceptions of the last decade. Any act of delay or defiance will prove 
that Saddam Hussein has not adopted the path of compliance and has 
rejected the path of peace.
    Thus far we are not seeing the fundamental shift in practice and 
attitude that the world is demanding. Iraq's letters to the U.N. 
regarding inspections show that their attitude is grudging and 
conditional. And in recent days, Iraq has fired on American and British 
pilots enforcing the U.N.'s no-fly zone.
    Iraq is now required by the United Nations to provide a full and 
accurate declaration of its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic 
missile programs. We will judge the declaration's honesty and 
completeness only after we have thoroughly examined it, and that will 
take some time. The declaration must be credible and accurate and 
complete, or the Iraqi dictator will have demonstrated to the world once 
again that he has chosen not to change his behavior.
    Americans seek peace in the world. War is the last option for 
confronting threats, yet the temporary peace of denial and looking away 
from danger would only be a prelude to a broader war and greater horror. 
America will confront gathering dangers early. By showing our resolve 
today, we are building a future of peace.
    Thank you for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 10 a.m. on December 6 in the Cabinet 
Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on December 7. The 
transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
December 6 but was embargoed for release until the broadcast. In his 
remarks, the President referred to President Saddam Hussein of Iraq. The 
Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language 
transcript of this address.