17 April 2003
Rumsfeld Predicts Iraqis Will Lead Coalition to WMD
(Myers warns neighbors not to exert influence in Iraq) (850) By Jacquelyn S. Porth Washington File Security Affairs Writer Washington -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld predicted that over the course of time Iraqis will tell coalition forces where to find concealed Iraqi weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Speaking to civilian and military employees at a Pentagon "town hall" meeting April 17, Rumsfeld said it is only in recent days that specially trained teams tasked with hunting down WMD have gained sufficient access to parts of the country where such weapons are likely to be found. It will take time to find WMD, he cautioned, because the Iraqi regime had adapted so well to concealing its activities from United Nations weapons inspectors. As pressure mounts to find Iraqi WMD, Rumsfeld said the Iraqis buried some items and hid others in underground tunnels to avert detection by inspectors. "I don't think we'll discover anything (related to WMD)," the secretary said. Rather, Iraqis "will tell us where to go find it. It's not like a treasure hunt, where you run around looking everywhere hoping you find something. I just don't think that's going to happen." The secretary was asked by a member of the audience how investigative teams will handle forensic evidence related to Iraqi WMD. Rumsfeld said team members will handle the weapons investigation in a manner similar to a crime scene investigation -- with a rigorous chain of control for any incriminating evidence. Even with photographic and other documented evidence, Rumsfeld suggested that there will still be attempts by certain countries and individuals to assert falsely that any Iraqi WMD evidence was planted in Iraq by coalition forces. There will always be people who lie and "get away with it," he lamented. Rumsfeld also said that enormous amounts of conventional weapons have been uncovered throughout Iraq. He said, for example, that some 123 schools throughout the country were found to be weapons repositories. Many of those weapons have been destroyed or re-distributed to legitimate elements in Iraq, he said, so they will not be used against innocent Iraqi civilians or coalition forces -- either by Iraqi irregular forces or common criminals. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Richard Myers, who also took part in the meeting, was asked about Syria's role with respect to the present conflict with Iraq. He replied: "You want people in the neighborhood to be helpful, and to be helpful you can't be imposing external influence there, or working your own agenda, and that goes for all the countries that surround Iraq and some that aren't directly ... contiguous." Myers referred to Syria's harboring of some "senior regime leadership -- at least their families," and also allegedly having sent some "jihadists" to engage coalition forces in combat. He also said that the Syrians have sent military equipment into Iraq. "That sort of behavior just has to stop," he said. Rumsfeld paid tribute to British, Polish and Australian coalition partners who he said had performed brilliantly, as well as some 42 other nations that have provided various kinds of support to "Operation Iraqi Freedom" as part of a wider coalition of the willing. The secretary was asked about a U.N. role in rebuilding Iraq in a post-conflict environment. Rumsfeld said it is unclear how President Bush's position on this will evolve. He also observed that U.N. Secretary General Kofi Anan has not spoken out in favor of embracing this rehabilitation role. Rebuilding Iraq, Rumsfeld said, will "take the best of all of us." But the coalition has an obligation to see it through, he added. Looking back at the 28 days of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Myers said the combat operations that have transpired in Iraq have been the most humane of any in military history. Great care has been taken by coalition forces, he said, to minimize risks to both Iraqi citizens and their nation's infrastructure, and to respect international law. Rumsfeld said there have not been massive civilian casualties in Iraq as some had predicted because so much care went into advanced military planning, nor has there been large scale damage to infrastructure such as Iraqi dams and railroad lines. But even in the face of a range of successes and the absence of a number of bad things that could have gone wrong, Myers said there will still be those who won't welcome coalition efforts in Iraq and will "come after us" in what he described as an underhanded fashion. The challenge, he said, will be to remain prepared and "keep our guard up" even as combat operations evolve into efforts to provide longer-term stability in Iraq so that free Iraqis can form an interim government authority. Rumsfeld was also asked about the U.S. position with regard to North Korea's nuclear posture and which countries should be involved in persuading North Korea to change its stance. He expressed confidence in President Bush's course of action to work the issue through the United Nations as well as in an upcoming multinational forum that would include the United States, North Korea and China. (The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
