Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Operations
Deployments
US Policy
United Nations
Reconstruction Issues
Foreign Reactions
News Reports

Current Operations

• COALITION EFFORTS AID IRAQ'S RECOVERY (June 2, 2003) CENTCOM 02 Jun 2003 -- Coalition Forces continue to assist in developing a safer and more secure environment in Iraq through the following activities.
• COALITION AND IRAQI POLICE WORK TO MAKE IRAQ SECURE (June 2, 2003) CENTCOM 02 Jun 2003 -- Coalition Forces continue to aggressively patrol Iraq to eliminate crimes against people and property, rid populated areas of weapons, ammunition and explosives, and stop the black market trade in fuel and other commodities.
• Seabees bridge way in Iraq Marine Corps News 02 Jun 2003-- Suspended sixty feet above the Tigris River, crews of Navy Seabees worked through the heat repairing what has been a gaping hole in this city's roadway system.
• COALITION EFFORTS AID IRAQ RECOVERY ARCENT CJTF-7 02 Jun 2003
• COALITION AND IRAQI POLICE WORK TO MAKE IRAQ SECURE ARCENT CJTF-7 02 Jun 2003

Deployments

US Policy

• Wolfowitz Welcomes Japanese Help in Iraq Reconstruction Washington File 02 Jun 2003 -- One of the accomplishments of the U.S.-led war in Iraq has been to deprive the North Korean regime of a customer for its nuclear proliferation activities, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz said in an interview with Japan's NHK Television May 31.
• Saddam's Defeat a Victory Over Terrorism, Wolfowitz Says Washington File 02 Jun 2003 -- "The defeat of Saddam Hussein is a victory in the war on terrorism" and eases the way to establishing peace in the Middle East, says Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz.
• Powell Tells Italian TV Audience Iraq WMD Will Be Found Washington File 02 Jun 2003 -- In an interview with Italian television in Rome June 2, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said there have been "smoking guns all over" indicating that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
• Wolfowitz Highlights Saddam Hussein's Terrorist Links Washington File 02 Jun 2003 -- The United States went to war with the regime of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein because of the regime's weapons of mass destruction, its ties with terrorists, and the way it mistreated the Iraqi people, according to Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz.

United Nations

• UN / IRAQ WEAPONS VOA 02 Jun 2003 -- Chief U-N weapons inspector Hans Blix has agreed -- in part -- with the United States that Iraq failed to declare suspected mobile biological arms laboratories and did not account for its entire stock of anthrax.
• Top UN envoy for Iraq arrives in Baghdad; food distribution resumes UN News Centre 02 Jun 2003 -- The top United Nations envoy for Iraq arrived in Baghdad today pledging to assist in the "critical efforts" to quickly establish a representative Iraqi government, as UN-supplied food rations again began reaching the civilian population.

Reconstruction Issues

• Iraq: Oil Chief Says Gasoline Shortages Should Ease This Month RFE/L 02 Jun 2003 -- Baghdad has never seen such long queues at petrol stations as they have following the fall of Saddam Hussein's government. The queues for petrol sometimes extend up to 3 kilometers -- this in one of the world's most oil-rich countries. The head of the Iraqi Oil Ministry says people are experiencing shortages caused by the war and that supplies should increase over the next three weeks.
• IRAQ/BREMER VOA 02 Jun 2003 -- The U-S administrator in Iraq says his office will begin recruiting soldiers for a new Iraqi army by the end of the month. The administrator spoke at a news conference in Baghdad, as former Iraqi soldiers demonstrated outside.

Foreign Reactions

• Bush Says U.S., France "in Agreement" on Iraq's Future Washington File 02 Jun 2003 -- The United States and France are "in agreement and we will move together to ensure that the Iraqi people have now got the capacity to run their own country," President Bush told reporters during a courtesy call June 2 on French President Jacques Chirac. Bush made the call shortly before his departure from the G-8 Summit in Evian, France.
• Powell, Italian Foreign Minister Discuss U.S.-Europe Ties, Iraq, Mideast Washington File 02 Jun 2003 -- Europeans and Americans are "coming back together...on the need to help the people of Iraq," Secretary of State Colin Powell said in Rome June 2, adding that "there has been considerable progress over the last two weeks in healing the fissures of the past."
• G-8 / BUSH / CHIRAC VOA 02 Jun 2003 -- President Bush and French President Jacques Chirac have publicly signaled that they have put their feud over the Iraq war behind them and are prepared to work together on major economic and security issues. The two leaders staged a public reconciliation at the G-8 summit in the French town of Evian just before Mr. Bush embarked on a peacekeeping mission to the Middle East.
• BRITAIN / IRAQ VOA 02 Jun 2003 -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair is defending his decision to go to war against Iraq, in response to critics who say he duped the public about Iraq's weapons-of-mass-destruction program.
• G-8 / BUSH / CHIRAC VOA 02 Jun 2003 -- President Bush and French President Jacques Chirac have given the most public indication yet that they are patching up their quarrel over the Iraq war. The two men say it is time to move on.
• BRITAIN / IRAQ VOA 02 Jun 2003 -- Britain is defending its decision to go to war against Iraq from critics who say Prime Minister Tony Blair duped the public about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program.
• AUSTRALIA / IRAQ ARMS REVIEW VOA 02 Jun 2003 -- Controversy is mounting in Australia over whether the government relied on flawed intelligence about Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction in deciding to join the U-S-led coalition's attack on Iraq.

News Reports

• IRAQ / INTELLIGENCE VOA 02 Jun 2003 -- The failure so far to discover weapons of mass destruction in Iraq has sparked controversy over the performance of Western intelligence agencies in the leadup to the war. U-S officials and Western allies continue to insist the intelligence they got on Iraq was sound, and that the weapons cited as one of the justifications of the war will eventually be found.
• IRAQ: Focus on Kirkuk displaced IRIN 02 Jun 2003 -- "It's taken us a long time to get here, but we can start again. We've had to do it many times before. At least we are home now," says 68-year-old Aziz Khurshid.