DoD News Briefing
Tuesday February 1, 2000 - 1:38 p.m EST
Presenter: Kenneth H. Bacon ASD PA
Also participating: Frank Rush, ASD, Force Management Policy and P.J. Crowley, PDASD PA
.............
QIt's been almost a year and a half since UNSCOM inspectors were forced out of Iraq. Is there any evidence that Saddam Hussein and the Iraqis have been able to reconstitute any of their weapons-of- mass-destruction program?
MR. BACON: There is no firm evidence that they have been able to reconstitute their weapons-of-mass-destruction program.
We do know that they have rebuilt buildings; we don't know what goes on in those buildings. We know that some of the machinery we destroyed, such as very large sophisticated metal presses in their missiles manufacturing or repair facilities, are costly and would be very difficult, if not impossible, for them to replace or rebuild under sanctions. And they do remain under sanctions.
So we do -- have no firm evidence that they have rebuilt their WMD, weapons of mass destruction, capability. It clearly is a worry. And it's clearly a reason why we think that a good tough, fair inspection regime should be reestablished and sent back to Iraq to follow through on the U.N. Security Council resolutions.
QKen?
QYou said "firm evidence." What suspicions does the U.S. have that in fact the Iraqis may be rebuilding their WMD program?
MR. BACON: Well, "firm evidence" means "no firm evidence." And I am not sure that it's profitable to talk about suspicions.
We know they have rebuilt some buildings. We don't know -- we can easily tell when somebody rebuilds a building. We can't tell what goes on inside the building, if anything. You have to assume that, if somebody rebuilds a building, they rebuild it for a reason.
We know that Saddam Hussein has spent a lot of time and money in the past trying to develop weapons of mass destruction and in fact did succeed in creating thousands of gallons of weaponized anthrax, which were actually put into Scud warheads and other artillery shells. We know that he created -- he filled thousands and thousands of 155 millimeter artillery shells with chemical weapons, VX and other types of chemical weapons. We know that he was working on a nuclear program. And we know certainly that he has developed missiles and built Scuds.
So we know what he did in the past. We know that he has not turned into a nice benign fellow since Desert Storm, so we have to assume that this remains the goal.
It is much more difficult for him to achieve a goal of rebuilding sophisticated weapons of mass destruction capability as long as he's under sanctions. It's not impossible, but it's much more difficult. That's one of the reasons we've been so determined to make sure that the sanctions remain in place until inspectors can go in and confirm that he has, in fact, dismantled his weapons of mass destruction programs as called for by the U.N. Security Council resolution.
QCan you in any way quantify, percentage-wise or whatever, what he's been able to rebuild physically? Understanding, of course, that you can't tell what's under the roof.
MR. BACON: No. He's -- I cannot quantify that. I just don't know the figure.
QOkay.
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QBack on Iraq. As I recall, the things that were targeted in Desert Fox were basically aeronautical infrastructure, potential delivery systems for weapons of mass destruction. To what extent do you think they've rebuilt that kind of thing? And am I right in recalling you didn't actually target any weapons of mass destruction or places where such things could be stored or made?
MR. BACON: You're generally correct in that we targeted missile repair and production facilities. And a number of those buildings have been reconstructed. We don't know what's happening inside the buildings.
QBut in the -- I'm sorry. If I could just follow on that, isn't it true or wasn't it said from this podium after Desert Fox that the target list didn't really include WMD production or storage sites, because of a variety of concerns, and that it was focused on delivery systems?
MR. BACON: It is true that we never announced targeting a WMD storage site. That's correct.
P.J.?
QDid you target -- (laughter) -- you said it's true that you never announced --
Q (Off mike.)
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QThank you.
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