Powell: Clock Ticking For Iraq

Without strong international action to disarm, Iraq could use its lethal weapons or share its technology with terrorists, Secretary of State Colin Powell warned Sunday.

"The nexus of tyrants and terror, of terrorists and weapons of mass terror, is the greatest danger of our age," Powell told business and political leaders ahead of Monday's report to the U.N. Security Council by the heads of the U.N. weapons inspection program.

In Washington, President Bush's chief of staff said he thinks there is a relationship between Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and terrorism.

"The important thing is that Saddam Hussein does have weapons of mass destruction, he has not complied with the wishes of the world to rid his country of them, and we have to make sure he doesn't have them so they don't get into the hands of terrorists," Andrew Card said Sunday in a televised interview.

In another broadcast interview Card said: "This president is not anxious to go to war. He would like to see Saddam Hussein come clean, to disarm. He'd like to see him bring those weapons to a parking lot and have them destroyed."

Powell said he believed the inspections had run their course, though he did not explicitly call for their end. He said that as a result of Iraq's lack of cooperation, he had lost faith in the ability of inspectors to fulfill their mission.

Iraq says it has no such weapons and that it is cooperating fully with inspectors hunting for evidence of chemical, nuclear and biological arms programs in the country since November.

A newspaper owned by Saddam elder son said Sunday that American and British troops will return home in "plastic bags" should they invade Iraq.

Some countries believe the process should continue as a means of building more public support for the Bush administration's policies.

"To those who say, 'Why not give the inspections process more time?', I ask: 'How much more time does Iraq need. ... It is not a matter of time, it is a matter of telling the truth, and Saddam still responds with evasion and lies," Powell said.

"Saddam should tell the truth — now!" Powell said.

Powell said intelligence help for the inspectors from the United States and other countries can take the inspectors only so far.

"Without Iraq's full and active cooperation, the 100 or so inspectors would have to look under every root and search the back of every truck in a country the size of California to find the munitions and programs for which Iraq has failed to account," Powell said.

CBS News reporter Charles Wolfson, in Davos with Powell, says the secretary of state has used every opportunity to say publicly that time is running out for Iraq and that the United States is intent on pursuing a military option if Iraq continues to delay.

"These are serious matters before us. Let the Iraqi regime have no doubt, however. If it does not disarm peacefully at this juncture, it will be disarmed at the end of the road."

Most Americans do not believe President Bush has made his case for military conflict in Iraq, and thus Bush will use his State of the Union address Tuesday night to undertake a major effort to sway public opinion and ease the concerns of U.S. allies.

Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., said after hearing Powell's speech, that the secretary made that case "as well as it can be made." Markey said Powell faced a "very skeptical audience, and I believe many of them want this process to continue for a longer period of time before the United States pulls the trigger."

He said he thought it would be in the United States' interest to allow the inspections to continue.

Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa, who has urged the United States to allow the inspectors to do their work, welcomed Powell's speech.

"The fact that he said that we will have to consider the report and see what to do in the days and months ahead — this was also assuring that we haven't yet reached the point of no return," he said.

Concluding his speech, Powell said: "In this new century, the cold war behind, with fascism and communism and Hitlerism all in the dustbin of history, this new enemy was just as real and had to be dealt with. We knew it would be difficult.

"We knew there would be days when our anxieties would well up and our fears would well up and we'd be afraid to take the next step. But we knew we would have to take that next step. And we're probably approaching one such moment now. We'll have to take that next step," Powell said.

"And history will judge us whether we have the strength, the fortitude and the willingness to take that next step.

The standing-room-only audience of more than 1,000 gave Powell a rousing ovation at the conclusion of his address and another when he finished answering questions.