For Immediate Release
December 30, 2003

Global Message

From remarks by President Bush, 12/19/03

Libya's commitment to disclose and dismantle their weapons of mass destruction programs is a development of great importance in our continuing effort to prevent the spread of WMDs.

Colonel Moammar al-Ghadafi agreed immediately and unconditionally to allow inspectors from international organizations to enter Libya.

Colonel Ghadafi's commitment, once it is fulfilled, will make our country more safe and the world more peaceful.

Opposing proliferation is one of the highest priorities of the war against terror.

The United States and our allies are applying a broad and active strategy to address the challenges of proliferation, through diplomacy and through the decisive actions that are sometimes needed. We have:

• Enhanced our intelligence capabilities to trace dangerous weapons activities;
• Organized a proliferation security initiative to interdict dangerous materials and technologies in transit;
• Insisted on multilateral approaches like that in North Korea to confront threats and are supporting the work of the International Atomic Energy Agency to hold the Iranian regime to its treaty obligations;
• Obtained an additional United Nations Security Council Resolution requiring Saddam Hussein to prove that he had disarmed, and when that resolution was defied, we led a coalition to enforce it.

The United States and our allies have sent an unmistakable message to regimes that seek or possess weapons of mass destruction: Those weapons do not bring influence or prestige. They bring isolation.