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October 2003
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For Immediate Release
October 8, 2003
Global Message
From a Washington Post op-ed by Secretary of State Powell, 10/7/03
Saddam Hussein's Iraq was in material breach of its United Nations obligations before the Security Council passed Resolution 1441 last November. Iraq went further into breach after the resolution was passed.
David Kay's interim findings offer detailed evidence of Hussein's efforts to defy the international community. The report describes a host of activities related to weapons of mass destruction that "should have been declared to the U.N."
The report reaffirms that Iraq's forbidden programs spanned more than two decades, involving thousands of people and billions of dollars.
President Bush made it plain a year ago to the United Nations that his principal concern in a post-Sept. 11 world was not just that a rogue regime such as Saddam Hussein's had WMD programs, but that such horrific weapons could find their way out of Iraq into the arms of terrorists.
Kay and his team report the chilling fact that they "found people, technical information and illicit procurement networks that, if allowed to flow to other countries and regions, could accelerate global proliferation."
What we now know as a result of Kay's efforts confirms that Saddam Hussein had every intention of continuing his work on banned weapons despite the U.N. inspectors, and that we and our coalition partners were right to eliminate the danger that his regime posed to the world.
Kay and his team will press on in the months ahead with their important and painstaking work. All indications are that they will uncover still more evidence of Hussein's dangerous designs.
