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Home > News & Policies > January 2004

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For Immediate Release
January 28, 2004

Global Message

From remarks by Secretary Powell with American Chamber of Commerce Chairman Andrew Somers, Moscow, Russia, 1/27/04

The United Nations -- over a period of 12 years -- demanded through many resolutions that Iraq:

• Come clean with respect to its weapons of mass destruction programs
• Stop abusing its people

Iraq continuously ignored the demands of the international community. Saddam Hussein was in material breech of UN Security Council Resolution 1441.

The United States was concerned about the weapons of mass destruction because Saddam Hussein had used them against other nations and had used these weapons against his own people.

Iraq had programs that were clearly intended to produce weapons of mass destruction. The regime had the intention to produce weapons of mass destruction and we knew it had previous stockpiles.

We are looking to see whether there are still stockpiles. That is why we have sent back a new chief inspector who will be working with our experts in the area to completely look at all the sites that were there, as well as examine all the documents and interview individuals to finally answer the question as to whether or not they had stockpiles.

Saddam Hussein was trying to get the international community to stop looking at him, and to get relief from the sanctions so he could return to his programs and develop these weapons.

Saddam Hussein never lost the intention to develop even more deadly weapons.

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