A rchive Date
[ 10-01-2003 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ U.S ]
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[http://www.msnbc.com/news/842500.asp?0cv=CA01
U.S. says 'smoking gun' not needed
Administration puts emphasis on cooperation, not discovery of evidence in Iraq
NBC, MSNBC AND NEWS SERVICES
WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 Despite the failure of U.N. weapons inspectors to find any evidence of banned weapons in Iraq, the United States on Friday appeared determined to forge ahead with preparations for war. Secretary of State Colin Powell told NBC News that a "smoking gun" wasn't necessary, while White House spokesman Ari Fleischer asserted that United States knows "for a fact" that Baghdad has produced weapons of mass destruction.
ON THURSDAY, chief weapons inspector Hans Blix told the U.N. Security Council that no "smoking guns" had been found by his team, which began hunting for evidence of banned weaponry in late November.
Blix, however, also said Iraq's claim it has no weapons of mass destruction in violation of a U.N. resolution is impossible to verify because its declaration left out so much information.
The assessment left open the possibility that the inspectors will also be unable to find any evidence by Jan. 27 when Blix is obligated to provide the Security Council with a comprehensive report on the inspections regime.
The top inspectors plan to fly to Baghdad on Jan. 19-20 to tell senior officials they must provide "credible evidence" about Iraq's nuclear, chemical, biological and missile programs; beef up the list of scientists Iraq handed over in late December; and answer a host of questions on outstanding issues ranging from anthrax production to missing high explosives.
"The declaration ... is rich in volume but poor in new information," Blix said. However, Powell, viewed as the least hawkish among the top Bush advisers, said any failure by the inspectors to find evidence of banned weapons does not mean it doesn't exist.
Instead, Powell told NBC's Tom Brokaw, "If the international community sees that Saddam Hussein is not cooperating in a way that would allow you to determine the truth of the matter, then he is in violation of the U.N. Resolution 1441. So, you don't really have to have a smoking gun."
Under Resolution 1441, adopted Nov. 8, the Security Council would declare a new "material breach" if there are false statements or omissions in Iraq's declaration submitted last month and the Iraqi government fails to cooperate with inspections. The American ambassador to the United Nations John Negroponte also downplayed the importance of the finding evidence on the ground.
Cooperation needed to be about more than just "opening doors" and he said Thursday it was time for Baghdad to admit it still had such weapons of mass destruction.
"Anything less is not cooperation and will constitute further material breach," Negroponte said, using diplomatic language that could pave the way for war. The United States, backed by Britain, has threatened military action against Iraq if it does not comply with the United Nations.
FRAGILE SUPPORT
But the tough stance by the U.S. administration could undermine the hard-won consensus within the United Nations about how to deal with Iraq.
The United States and Britain won unanimous Security Council backing for resolution 1441 in November after two months of tough diplomacy. But many key allies want to allow the inspection process to work.
"Without proof, it would be very difficult to start a war," the European Union's foreign policy coordinator Javier Solana told French newspaper Le Monde in an interview published Friday.
German Ambassador Gunter Pleuger, whose government opposes military action against Iraq, said inspections should continue "and for that reason alone there are no grounds for military action."
Even Britain, which backs U.S. military action if Iraq fails to comply with inspections, held back from declaring Iraq in violation of the resolution.
"As the days go by, I think the failure of Iraq proactively to cooperate, if that is continued, will become an increasingly serious matter," said Britain's U.N. Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock.
INSPECTIONS ROLL ON
Meantime in Iraq, U.N. experts on Friday inspected a pharmaceutical plant and made a return visit to a missile fuel factory.
Bad weather prevented inspectors from visiting other undisclosed sites outside the capital for a second straight day.
U.N. inspectors returned for a third visit this month to the Al-Mamoun missile propellant factory 40 miles south of Baghdad, the Information Ministry said in a statement.
Other team members wearing white protective suits and carrying masks inspected a state pharmaceutical company in Baghdad and two state-run stores in the capital, the ministry said. The stores, Al-Dabash and Al-Adil, sell foodstuffs, electrical appliances and construction materials.
Neither the Iraqi government nor the inspectors made any comment about what the inspectors saw there.
U.N. resolutions prohibit Iraq from maintaining missiles with a range of more than 90 miles, and the visit to the propellant factory may have been aimed at determining whether Iraq was violating that restriction
OTHER DEVELOPMENTS
- A Foreign Ministry spokesman denied on Thursday that Russia offered asylum to Saddam Hussein as a way of avoiding war. The Arab-dominated West African country of Mauritania also issued a denial that it had offered Saddam a safe haven.
- Turkish Prime Minister Abdullah Gul said on Friday he had authorized the U.S. military to inspect Turkish bases to see how useful they would be in any war on neighboring Iraq, state media said.
- Australia stopped short on Friday of committing itself to any U.S.-led attack on Iraq but said contingency plans were in place and it might send some troops to the Middle East in coming weeks.
- The Islamic militant Hamas group urged Iraq on Friday to open its doors to Muslim volunteer fighters and form squads of suicide bombers as the United States continues preparations for a possible war to topple Saddam Hussein.
NBC diplomatic staff, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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