[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 39, Number 7 (Monday, February 17, 2003)]
[Pages 175-176]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

February 8, 2003

    Good morning. On Wednesday, Secretary of State Powell briefed the 
United Nations Security Council on Iraq's illegal weapons programs, its 
attempts to hide those weapons, and its links to terrorist groups.
    The Iraqi regime's violations of Security Council resolutions are 
evident. They are dangerous to America and the world, 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 materials and to hide or 
intimidate key experts and scientists. This effort of deception is 
directed from the highest levels of the Iraqi regime, including Saddam 
Hussein, his son, Iraq's Vice President, and the very official 
responsible for cooperating with inspectors.
    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.
    The Iraqi regime has acquired and tested the means to deliver 
weapons of mass destruction. It has never accounted for thousands of 
bombs and shells capable of delivering chemical weapons. It 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 
us 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 8 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. 
And an Al Qaida operative was sent to Iraq several times in the late 
1990s for help in acquiring poisons and gases.
    We also know that Iraq is harboring a terrorist network headed by a 
senior Al Qaida terrorist planner. This network runs a poison and 
explosives training camp in northeast Iraq, and many of its leaders are 
known to be in Baghdad.
    This is the situation as we find it: 12 years after Saddam Hussein 
agreed to disarm and more than 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 away that chance.
    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 making clear that the 
Security Council stands behinds its previous demands. Yet, resolutions 
mean little without resolve, and the United States, along with a growing 
coalition of nations, will take whatever action is necessary to defend 
ourselves and disarm the Iraqi regime.
    Thank you for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 9:15 a.m. on February 7 in the Cabinet 
Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on February 8. The 
transcript was made available by the Office

[[Page 176]]

of the Press Secretary on February 7 but was embargoed for release until 
the broadcast. In his remarks, the President referred to President 
Saddam Hussein of Iraq and his son, Qusay; and Vice President Taha Yasin 
Ramadan and presidential adviser Lt. Gen. Amir Al-Saadi of Iraq. The 
Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language 
transcript of this address.