Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=8/3/03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=U-S/IRAQ (L-Only)

NUMBER=2-306133

BYLINE=PAULA WOLFSON

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Two prominent U-S senators say they believe American forces are getting closer to finding ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. V-O-A'S Paula Wolfson reports, Republican Trent Lott and Democrat Evan Bayh appeared Sunday on American television.

TEXT: Both senators are members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and entitled to see the latest classified information coming from Iraq.

Senator Bayh told C-N-N's Late Edition he thinks the circle appears to be tightening around Saddam Hussein.

/// BAYH ACT ///

It started with the deaths of his two sons. Many more people are coming forward. We have apprehended some other of his security agents. I think it is just a question, not of whether we get him, but of when.

/// END ACT ///

Appearing with his democratic colleague on Late Edition, Senator Lott noted that Saddam Hussein's two oldest daughters have left Iraq, and his top security aides have been captured by the U-S-led coalition.

/// LOTT ACT ///

I think the daughters being given asylum in Jordan is even a further indication they are closing in on him. There have been some hints over the last week from different people in the administration that we have talked with that made it seem like they felt like they were getting closer.

/// END ACT ///

Senator Lott said Saddam Hussein has no real power, and Evan Bayh suggested he is becoming less and less relevant to daily events in Iraq.

A former top U-S diplomat in Iraq agrees. Joseph Wilson was once the acting American ambassador to Baghdad. He told C-N-N that the capture of Saddam Hussein is an important goal, but added the deaths of his sons ultimately will have a greater impact on the Iraqi people.

/// WILSON ACT ///

I actually think that having found Qusay and Uday was better in driving the wooden stake through the heart of the idea there will be a Hussein dynasty that would re-emerge.

/// END ACT ///

Mr. Wilson made news recently when he revealed he was sent to Niger by U-S officials to investigate claims Iraq was trying to buy uranium - - a key component of nuclear weapons. He declared that those allegations could not be substantiated before President Bush went before the American people and made a slightly broader allegation that Iraq wanted to buy uranium in Africa.

Mr. Wilson said he continues to believe it was necessary to disarm Saddam Hussein and that evidence of weapons of mass destruction will someday be found. But he said he wonders if the proof will be enough to justify the war.

/// WILSON ACT ///

I think we will find chemical weapons. I think we will find biological precursors that may or may not have been weaponized. And I think we will find a continuing interest in nuclear weapons. The question really is whether it met the threshold test of an imminent threat to our own national security, or even the test of a grave and gathering danger.

/// END ACT ///

President Bush said recently he is sure sufficient evidence will be found to silence critics of the military operation in Iraq. (SIGNED)

NEB/PW/TW