U.S. Cites New Evidence Of Iraqi Deceit
In the face of continued international opposition to military action against Iraq, Secretary of State Colin Powell revealed new intelligence Wednesday which he says shows Iraq is still building and hiding banned weapons.
Powell said that "from recent intelligence we know Iraq plans to destroy only a portion of its all Al Samoud missiles" and to continue production of the missiles even as it dismantles some.
He said the sources of the information could not be revealed, but claimed they were reliable.
Powell's speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington was scheduled at the last minute and designed to blunt the argument for more time which U.S. arms inspectors are expected to make Friday, reports CBS News Correspondent Bill Plante.
Powell made the case that Saddam has no intention of disarming, has moved chemical and biological agents to the Syrian and Turkish borders, and is cooperating only to divide the U.N. and undermine support for the U.S. resolution which would authorize war.
"Iraq's too-little too-late gestures are meant not just to deceive and delay action by the international community, he has as one of his major goals to divide the international community, to split us into arguing factions. That effort must fail," he said.
The only real issue left, said Powell, is whether Saddam had "made a strategic decision, a political decision, to give up these horrible weapons of mass destruction." He said Saddam had not.
But Powell also held out a remaining hope that the issue could be resolved peacefully. "If Iraq complies and disarms even at this late hour it is possible to avoid war," he said.
In Paris, the foreign ministers of France, Germany and Russia said it was too soon to tell, and said they would not allow passage of any U.N. Security Council resolution that would authorize the use of force.
The trio hinted – but did not say outright – that France and Russia would use their vetoes to block the war resolution authored by the United States, Britain and Spain. A vote on that proposal could come next week.
"We will not allow a resolution to pass that authorizes resorting to force," French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said at a press conference. "Russia and France, as permanent members of the Security Council, will assume their full responsibilities on this point. "
The White House, however, is refusing to take no for an answer, arguing that in the past France and Russia have often differed with the U.S. on Iraq, but have yet to use their vetoes.
"I urge you not to leap to any conclusions about what the final outcome of the vote will be," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.
The outcome of the vote may depend in part on the report on the progress of disarmament that chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix will make to the Security Council on Friday.
Blix said Wednesday that Iraq is providing "a great deal more of cooperation now" under threat of U.S. military action and he hopes it's not too late to avoid war.
He said the chopping up of some of Iraq's Al Samoud 2 missiles "is the most spectacular and the most important and tangible" example of cooperation.
"Clearly the missile is real disarmament," Blix said.
Saddam, however, dismissed the U.N. order to destroy the missiles as a ploy designed to demoralize Iraqis before an enemy attack.
"After they could not find weapons of mass destruction because they do not exist, the enemy has begun to focus on minor issues, including the rocket," the Iraqi president told a group of army commanders in images shown on state television.
It was not clear whether Saddam's comments would affect the destruction process. Since Saturday, Iraq has destroyed 28 missiles, including nine on Wednesday. Before beginning the destruction, Iraq was believed to have about 100 of the missiles.
Pentagon officials revealed Wednesday that U.S. forces would hit Iraq with 10 times as many bombs in the opening days of an air campaign as in the 1991 Gulf War in an assault meant to "shock and awe" Iraqi defenders.
Gen. Tommy R. Franks, the commander who would lead the war, met with President Bush at the White House and said Mr. Bush had not yet decided whether to order an invasion. But Franks said U.S. forces were prepared for the go-ahead.
"Our troops in the field are trained, they're ready, they are capable," Franks told a Pentagon news conference.
There are now 210,000 American troops in the countries and waters surrounding Iraq, nearly 130,000 of them in Kuwait, which would be the main jumping off point for the drive to Baghdad, reports CBS News National Security Correspondent David Martin.
All of the warships, all of the marines and the lead army divisions needed for the battle are in place, and 80 percent of the combat aircraft are in place.
Most of the missing warplanes are slated for Turkey, which remains the one missing piece in the battle plan. The 4th Infantry Division is supposed to go through Turkey into northern Iraq but its equipment is still stuck on ships waiting for permission to unload.
Franks has developed a backup plan for flying troops into the north. Officials admit it's not nearly as good as coming through Turkey, but with the clock ticking down and the troops of the 4th Division still back at their home base in Texas, the war could well start without them.
One sign of just how near war might be: U.S. aircraft have quadrupled, to about 800, the number of missions in and around the southern no-fly zone in order to establish a level of activity that will make it harder for the Iraqis to spot the marshalling of aircraft for the start of the war.
And early next week, Franks will leave the states and head once again to his forward command post in the Persian Gulf. Only this time, an aide says, he won't be coming back until the final showdown with Saddam is over, one way or the other.
In other developments: