Washington: United States' Secretary of State Colin Powell has made it clear that
the US will not shrink from war if that is the only way to rid Iraq of its weapons
of mass destruction (WMD).
Saying that the United Nations inspectors had found information on WMD provided by
Baghdad "woefully deficient", Powell in an article in the Wall Street Journal on
February 4 said that "the World now must recognise that Iraq has not complied with
the will of the international community".
In his report to the Security Council, the head of the UN inspection team Hans Blix
had noted that Iraq has failed to account for its production of the deadly nerve
agent VX, some 6,500 chemical bombs, and about 1,000 metric tons of chemical agent.
Iraq also previously acquired the materials to make much more anthrax than it
declared.
"In their inspections," said Powell, "Mr Blix's team discovered a number of chemical
warheads not previously acknowledged by Iraq. Iraq also continues to acquire banned
equipment, with proscribed imports arriving as recently as
last month."
Iraq has refused the inspectors' request to use a U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, a
critical tool for inspections.
Referring to the "further evidence of Iraq's pattern of deception" which he will
present before the Security Council on February 5, Powell said, "Our evidence will
reinforce what the inspectors told the Security Council last week – that they are
not getting the co-operation they need, that their
requests are being blocked, and that their questions are going unanswered."
PTI
