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 Home > News & Policies > December 2002

For Immediate Release
December 18, 2002

Global Message

KEY POINTS

  • Disarming the Iraqi regime is a central commitment of the war on terror. We must prevent terrorist groups and outlaw regimes from threatening the American people with catastrophic harm.

  • 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?

  • Thus far we are not seeing the fundamental shift in practice and attitude that the world is demanding. Iraq's letters to the UN regarding inspections show that their attitude is grudging and conditional. And in recent days, Iraq has fired on American and British pilots enforcing the UN's no-fly zone.

  • Iraq was required by the UN to provide a full and accurate declaration of its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs. As Secretary Powell has said, there are problems with the declaration. We will be sharing our thoughts on this in greater detail later this week.