News
Briefly
Calendar of Events
Commentary
Opinions
Sports
Diversions
One time, one night
Special Section
World News
Classifieds
Login
Letter Submission
Search
Archive
Publishing Policy
Mail Subscriptions
St. Cloud State University
College Publisher
Home
>
News
U.S. officials plan next move
Published:
Monday, December 9, 2002
Seth Borenstein
Knight Ridder Newspapers
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Iraq used more than 12,000 pages to say that it has no weapons of mass destruction, but top officials said Sunday that Iraq's report can be summed up in one word: baloney.
"That just doesn't meet the laugh test," said David Kay, former chief U.N. nuclear weapons inspector, on NBC's Meet The Press. Two other former U.N. arms inspectors agreed in interviews elsewhere.
So did former Vice President Al Gore. Asked if he believes Iraq's claims, Gore said, "No, of course not," on ABC's "This Week."
Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he has seen classified evidence proving that Saddam continues to seek the outlawed weapons.
In Baghdad, a top adviser to Saddam challenged Washington to make public any proof that Iraq's report is false. "It's accurate, comprehensive and truthful," Gen. Amar al-Saadi said of Iraq's documentation. If others have contrary evidence, he said, "let them come forth with it."
Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., who will become chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee next month, said the Bush administration now must decide how much of the now-secret U.S. intelligence to make public in order to rally the world behind military action against Iraq.
"I think these are delicate judgments," Lugar said on CBS. "It depends upon the nature of the intelligence." Often the most valuable information comes from scientists inside a regime, he said, implying that making such intelligence public could expose the sources to harm.
Iraq's report was sent Sunday to the United Nations in New York, where officials said they would delve into it immediately. Hans Blix, chief of the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Committee (UNMOVIC), the lead inspection agency; U.N. Secretary General Kofi Anan; and the U.N. Security Council are expected to discuss the report in private Tuesday.
UNMOVIC's analysis team of about 15 experts will pore over the documents, but must wait for many crucial pieces of evidence to be translated from Arabic, Buchanan said. U.S. officials will do the same.
Privacy Policy
Network Advertising
Article Syndication
