• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

05 December 2002

Wolfowitz Vows Consultation With Allies Before Use of Force in Iraq

(Answers media questions at NATO headquarters December 5) (1510)
Any decision by President Bush to use force to disarm Iraq would come
only after close consultation with U.S. allies and the international
community, says Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz.
Responding to a media questioner at NATO headquarters in Brussels
after meetings there December 5, Wolfowitz also said the president
would not decide to use force based on a single piece of evidence but,
rather, on a pattern of information. He said that "the only hope" of
persuading Saddam Hussein to give up his weapons of mass destruction
lies in making clear that it is the only way he will save his regime.
Wolfowitz mentioned briefly his meetings in Turkey, in which he
discussed Iraq and Turkey's European integration, as well as continued
NATO alliance cooperation. At NATO, he said he congratulated the
allies for the decision to add seven new members and also discussed
how NATO could increase the pressure on Iraq "in order to avoid the
use of force."
"But I think the most important thing to me is the large number of
allies who have indicated that they will be with us no matter what,"
Wolfowitz said. "[T]he international community surrounds Saddam
Hussein," he said.
Following is a transcript of Wolfowitz's remarks:
(begin transcript)
U.S. Department of Defense
Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz
December 4, 2002
(Media stakeout at NATO Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium. Also
participating was Ambassador R. Nicholas Burns.)
Burns: Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. It is a great pleasure to
welcome the Deputy Secretary of Defense, Paul Wolfowitz, again to
NATO. He had a very good meeting with Secretary General Robertson, and
then one hour and 15 minutes with the North Atlantic Council. He will
have a statement and will be glad to take three questions. Thank you.
Wolfowitz: Thank you. This was supposed to be the first stop on my
trip, but as you may know we had some airplane problems, so we
switched things around.
I've now been to London and Ankara, two of our very important allies.
Let me just say very briefly, since the discussions in Turkey were
very important, that we talked about more than just Iraq there. We
talked about the future of Turkey's integration with Europe and a
future of continued Alliance cooperation and close cooperation with
the United States. We discussed with Turkish officials, and I continue
that discussion today about how to deal with the threat posed by
Iraq's arsenal of terror.
In Turkey, we reached agreement on the next concrete steps and
military planning and preparations and we have charted a course for
the way forward, working together. So now it should be clearer, I
think, than ever that the international community surrounds Saddam
Hussein. That is vitally important, because the most likely route to
achieving a peaceful resolution is through the prompt and total
disarmament of Iraq's most horrible weapons of terror.
That, I would say, is the basic theme of what I continue to talk about
here, although, it was also an occasion to congratulate all the
members of NATO and the Secretary General personally for what has been
a truly successful summit in Prague. It would be an historic summit
under any circumstances, to have reached out to seven new democracies
of central Europe and to do so at the same time that we are building a
new and unprecedented relationship between NATO and Russia. But, it
was also a time to thank the Allies for the very strong statement that
came out of Prague about the importance of U.N. Security Council
Resolution 1441.
Again, it can't be said often enough the only hope of persuading the
Iraqi regime to give up these weapons that they have worked so hard to
build, and have paid such a high price to hang on to over 11 years, is
to convince them that that is their only alternative if they wish
their regime to survive. By making that very strong statement at
Prague, NATO has, I think, contributed in an important way to
sustaining international pressure on the Iraqi regime.
I heard many statements around the table from allied ambassadors this
afternoon, re-emphasizing their understanding about the importance of
keeping that pressure on Saddam. One of them, if I might say, quoted
in Latin, "Civis pacem para bellum," and his colleague next to him
said, "well, you took the Latin words right out of my mouth."
We also talked this afternoon about ways in which NATO as an alliance
-- in addition to what individual allies are doing -- ways in which
NATO as an alliance might be able to contribute, not only if there is
a use of force, but also, in order to avoid a use of force, to
building up the pressure on Iraq. We are hoping to consult with our
allies in coming days and weeks to see if any of those ideas make
sense.
But, I think the most important thing to me is the large number of
allies who have indicated that they will be with us no matter what.
And I think that message should get to Baghdad. Saddam Hussein should
understand that we already have a very strong coalition assembled, if
we have to, and I believe that that coalition is only going to grow.
If it does become necessary to use force, we will have the world with
us.
Thank you.
Yes sir.
Q: You said that the war would be avoided if Iraq did cooperate very
well with the inspectors. But who will judge if they cooperated with
the inspectors well or not? The second is: is the U.S. willing to
accept the result of the inspectors, however it is? Thank you.
Wolfowitz: Judgments about the use of force in our country, and I
think in every country are judgments that are reserved for highest
levels of government. In our case it is a judgment that the president
of the United States will have to make and I am quite sure that he is
not going to make it simply on the basis of one single piece of
information. He is going to make it, I think, based not only on the
pattern of information, but also, in close consultation particularly
with our allies but indeed with the international community.
Resolution 1441 does call for another meeting -- a meeting, not
another resolution. It calls for another meeting of the Security
Council. When the president makes a decision that is necessary to act,
I am sure it will be based on close consultations with the
international community and particularly with our allies. Let me
emphasize, the issue here is not inspections, the issue is
disarmament.
One of our colleagues in the meeting just now cited an inspector from
an earlier period saying if the inspectors have to find things in
Iraq, it will be like trying to find something under the snows of
Siberia. It is not their job to go through every square inch of Iraq
and find what is there. It is Saddam Hussein's job to come forward
with a full and complete disclosure of all the programs that he has.
Then what inspectors can do is to help verify that we have had a full
disclosure. But he knows what he has; he has to disclose it and he has
to get rid of it.
Yes, sir?
Q: If the Iraqis, as it seems probable, come to you at the deadline
and say that they don't have any weapons of mass destruction, that is
our disclosure, what will be your reaction?
Wolfowitz: If we get a dishonest statement, that is clearly going to
have be a major consideration of non- cooperation. What our reaction
will exactly be is again something that goes to the highest level of
our government and in consultation with our allies. I think time for
one more.
Yes, sir.
Q: Is it true that the German government, prior [to] Prague, made a
substantial commitment for a post- or reconstructive post-war Iraq?
Wolfowitz: I am honestly not aware, but I do think it is one of the
points that I have been making: If it comes to the use of force and a
change of government in Iraq and a liberation of the Iraqi people,
they are going to need a great deal of assistance from the
international community. I believe that the international community
will respond in a strong and generous way.
The stakes of building a peaceful, prosperous Iraq that treats its own
people decently and is at peace with its neighbors -- the stakes are
enormous. It would be a positive influence economically throughout the
region. It would end a lot of misery that the people of southeastern
Turkey have been suffering through 10 years of the ongoing crisis. And
it would produce an Iraq that spends the great wealth of that country
on the welfare of its people instead of on building chemical and
biological nuclear weapons. That kind of an Iraq, I think, could be a
real force for peace and prosperity and progress throughout the Middle
East.
Thank you.
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)