Twelve months ago, Donald Rumsfeld claimed that Iraq was lying 
about not having weapons of mass destruction. 

So where are they?

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Rumsfeld: Iraq Lying About Not Having WMD

By Sgt. 1st Class Kathleen T. Rhem, USA
American Forces Press Service

MANAMA, Bahrain, June 10, 2002 -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld 
summarily dismissed Iraq's June 9 statement that it doesn't have 
weapons of mass destruction and isn't developing them.  

"They're lying. It's just false, not true, inaccurate and typical," 
Rumsfeld said of the Iraqi statement in response to a reporter's 
question shortly before leaving Kuwait this morning. He said Iraq 
has weapons of mass destruction and continues to "weaponize" chemical 
weapons and to work to develop biological and nuclear weapons.  

"I don't know what other kinds of weapons would fall in the group 
of weapons of mass destruction," he said. "But if there are more, 
I suspect (the Iraqis are) working on them as well."  

The secretary said it's up to Kuwait to decide how seriously to 
take Iraq's recent pledges on nonaggression and recognition of 
Kuwaiti sovereignty. He offered his own opinion on that issue.  

"It'd be like a lion inviting a chicken into an embrace. What good, 
in the past, have the Iraqi representations of good will (been) to their 
neighbors?" he said. "Should hope spring eternal? Maybe not. I think it 
depends on the risks. How much does one want to bet on that?"  

Rumsfeld said he hopes to see Hussein ousted during his tenure as 
defense secretary. "I would think most of the people in the region 
and in the world recognize that the world would be a better place 
without that regime," he said.  

The Bush administration has repeatedly said it favors a change of 
regime in Iraq. Toward that end, Rumsfeld said, the United States 
and other coalition nations are working to enforce sanctions and 
no-fly zones in the north and south of the country.  

He wouldn't, however, discuss military action against Iraq. "What might 
take place prospectively is not a for me to be talking about," Rumsfeld 
said. "But clearly, a the policy of our country is that the regime of 
Saddam Hussein is a destabilizing factor."  

Rumsfeld is in the Middle East to visit American allies in the 
region. After Bahrain, he will stop in Qatar before heading to 
India and Pakistan to further try to ease tensions between those 
two countries. The secretary is winding down a 10-day trip abroad 
that took him to London, Belgium, Germany and Estonia before the 
Middle East. He is scheduled to return to Washington later this week.  

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Source: American Forces "Information" Service ...
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jun2002/n06102002_200206102.html

Cheers, Steve..

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