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Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Washington File

30 April 2003

Iraq Showed Limits of Nonproliferation Regime, Armitage Says

(Deputy secretary of state at National Defense University) (4190)
The example of Iraq under Saddam Hussein demonstrates that the current
international nonproliferation "architecture is showing some signs of
age," says Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.
Speaking at a National Defense University function in Washington April
30, Armitage said, "The system we have in place for dealing with ...
proliferation challenges does not really offer solutions" for the
problems presented by: Iraq under Saddam; India and Pakistan, who
share a thousand-mile border, a 50-year history of enmity and war, and
now nuclear weapons; North Korea, which defies its international
commitments and makes nuclear threats; Iran, where "elements of a
violent and backward past look to buy and build weapons of mass
destruction despite their solemn obligations to the contrary"; and
terrorists "shopping the globe for enriched uranium, lethal chemicals
and technical expertise."
"It's time for the world community to reinvigorate our shared
commitment to stopping the spread of these weapons," Armitage said.
"And perhaps it is time to refashion the tools we already have for
doing so -- to develop new tools to deal with these challenges as well
as to commit to vigorous bilateral and multilateral negotiations
whenever necessary."
Armitage was not without praise for the current nonproliferation
system. He noted that President Kennedy 40 years ago predicted that a
future president would face "a world bristling with nuclear weapons."
That is not the world President Bush faces, he said, "in no small part
through a concerted effort of many nations. Agreements such as the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Chemical Weapons Convention,
organizations such as the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency]
and the Nuclear Suppliers Group -- these constitute a global security
architecture that has served us satisfactorily and kept us safe," he
said.
The problem with Iraq, Armitage said, was not just the possession of
weapons of mass destruction and the willingness to use them. "The
problem was a dictator who by force and by fear created a political
culture defined by the desire to possess and keep such capabilities at
all cost," he said.
War with Iraq was never the first option, Armitage said, adding that
this is generally the case among countries with representative
governments. "But Saddam Hussein was able to exploit that reluctance
... for far too long .... We simply reached the point where there was
no other option," he said.
The military success in Iraq changed the political culture there,
Armitage said, but that also requires "that we create the conditions
for something to grow in place of that regime....[T]he most formidable
challenge we face is reconstruction...for physical as well as
psychological reasons. Indeed, I would say this is not so much
reconstruction as it is redevelopment of human beings and a national
infrastructure that have suffered from decades of abuse and decades of
neglect. This is going to require patience and persistence and above
all, obviously, hard work."
Armitage said the United States and the coalition are helping Iraqis
to form an Iraqi interim authority, which will allow Iraqis to play a
part from the very beginning. The role of the United States and others
is limited, he noted.
"We are helping to create a level playing field for this energized
Iraqi political process, but we will step in to stop any attempts to
seize power and return the people of Iraq to servitude," Armitage
said. America's obligation is to "stay long enough to see this
through," but "as the president has made very, very clear, not one day
longer."
The transcript of Armitage's remarks follows:
(begin transcript)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
April 30, 2003
Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage
Iraq and the Global Challenge of Proliferation
National Defense University
April 30, 2003
Capital Hilton
Washington, D.C.
DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: Well, thank you very much for the kind and
elegant and eloquent words. There are many who accuse me of spending
too much time in the weight room -- I should be spending more time on
the duties, but I will let you all judge if that's the case when I've
finished my remarks.
Paul was right. We were at the boat school together. Neither of us had
the opportunity to have a college education. (Laughter.) And again,
about 23 years ago, found ourselves in the Pentagon -- both of us as
junior bureaucrats working in the Reagan administration. Of course
Paul was a serving military officer, and we've intersected from time
to time ever since.
And I really appreciate you allowing me back home, as my two-time
service as the Chairman of the Board of Visitors is one of the things
that I point to in almost 28 years of government service, as something
that really mattered. It mattered a lot to me, and I think it mattered
a lot to many of you in the room because it was during that time the
Middle States' Accreditation Board came and visited and we gained
accreditation for this fine university. It was long overdue. And if I
do nothing else in a government career, having been part of that,
along with the excellent faculty here, then I will have considered my
life to have been a great success. So thanks for allowing me back.
And I can't imagine a better audience for what I want to talk about
today than this National Defense University. This is the incubator, as
far as I'm concerned, for some of this nation's finest strategic
thinking. And the events unfolding today in Iraq will require your
best work if we are to learn valuable lessons -- in particular, if we
are to learn lessons about how to approach the challenge that weapons
of mass destruction pose for the security of this nation and, indeed,
for all nations.
Forty years ago, John F. Kennedy predicted that within a decade his
successor could face a world bristling with nuclear weapons. He said,
"I ask you to stop and think for a moment what it would mean to have
nuclear weapons in so many hands; in the hands of countries large and
small, stable and unstable, responsible and irresponsible, scattered
throughout the world."
Well, today, this is not the world President Bush faces, so we are
fortunate in that regard., Though of course, JFK did not have to
reckon with weapons of mass destruction intersecting with non-state
actors. So today, instead of the 25 or so countries that President
Kennedy once predicted, only a handful of nations possess nuclear
weapons. Of course we suspect many more countries have chemical and
biological weapons, but still short of the scores that have been
predicted in the past.
Well, we've reached this state of affairs in no small part through a
concerted effort of many nations. Agreements such as the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Chemical Weapons Convention,
organizations such as the IAEA and the Nuclear Suppliers Group --
these constitute a global security architecture that has served us
satisfactorily and kept us safe.
But as we have seen so dramatically in recent days, that architecture
is showing some signs of age. Just look at the headlines. You will see
India and Pakistan with a thousand-mile shared border and a 50-year
history of enmity and war -- a situation that is truly frightening
when you add into the mix nuclear weapons outside of the system of
international restraints. Of course you'll see North Korea in the
headlines -- a blighted nation led by a dictator who defies his
international commitments and fiddles with nuclear threats. And you'll
see Iran where an entire generation is ready for change, while
elements of a violent and backward past look to buy and to build
weapons of mass destruction despite their solemn obligations to the
contrary.
Now all of this goes on while terrorists are shopping the globe for
enriched uranium, lethal chemicals and technical expertise. And
September 11th brought home to Americans the awful truth that no one
is safe from such individuals -- not Tanzanians and Kenyans attending
to their daily shopping or ordinary Americans, from stockbrokers to
waiters, guilty of nothing more than going to the office.
And of course, in the headlines you will certainly see Iraq.  
These are among the most pressing global security concerns of our
time. And yet, the system we have in place for dealing with such
proliferation challenges does not really offer solutions for these
problems. This is a system that works to dampen the demand for such
capabilities and to deny the means to develop them, and with some
success. But it is not a system that has a clear and a consistent way
of dealing with nations who pass certain milestones.
It's time for the world community to reinvigorate our shared
commitment to stopping the spread of these weapons. And perhaps it is
time to refashion the tools we already have for doing so -- to develop
new tools to deal with these challenges as well as to commit to
vigorous bilateral and multilateral negotiations whenever necessary.
Now I will try to tell you all the truth. I certainly don't have all
the answers on this. I can't, today, tell you exactly how to fix what
is broken or how to build the new structures we need to be safe. But
what I can tell you is that Iraq offers proof that the community of
nations needs to come together to ask the right questions and to work
out a way to deal with the tough proliferation challenges of today and
tomorrow.
In Iraq, the possession of the weapons and the means to make them,
even the demonstrated willingness to use them -- that, alone, was not
the problem. The problem was a dictator who by force and by fear
created a political culture defined by the desire to possess and keep
such capabilities at all cost.
War was never the preferred option for our nation. It generally is not
the preferred option for countries with representative governments.
But Saddam Hussein was able to exploit that reluctance and exploit it
for far too long. He agreed to a ceasefire he never intended to keep,
and for 12 years he led the international community on -- all while he
continued to do exactly as he pleased; whether that meant torturing
his people, suborning terrorism or looting his nation; stashing
proscribed items in private homes and schools and hospitals as well as
secret hiding places.
We simply reached the point where there was no other option, where the
will of the world community, so clearly expressed in resolution after
resolution from the United Nations Security Council, had to be
enforced. It was unpleasant, but unavoidable -- an unpleasant and
unavoidable prospect for any nation with the courage of its
convictions.
And so a group of nations has come together to force and to forge a
change in the political culture of Iraq. And this required that we
destroy the old regime, which the US military has done and done
brilliantly, and we owe much to the assistance of our British,
Australian and Polish allies inside Iraq and many other partners
outside the country.
A little more than a month after military operations began, some of
our warriors are already returning home to a hero's welcome, while
some will stay in place for some time to continue clean-up activities.
But without question, the brutal regime of Saddam Hussein is gone.
Changing the political culture, however, also requires that we create
the conditions for something to grow in place of that regime. And I
want to talk to you today about some of the ways in which the United
States is working with other nations to do so.
From the moment that we began to consider military operations, we all
knew that the aftermath would be a significant challenge, but we never
for a moment thought it would be an insurmountable challenge. We hold
the lives of our men and women in uniform far too dear to send them on
an impossible mission. And while you've all seen the images of looting
in post-war Iraq, the news is actually much better than we had
anticipated and than we had planned for.
Our forces were able to achieve military objectives while sparing the
country from a humanitarian emergency, in large part, because we could
achieve those objectives without significantly damaging civilian
infrastructure. But of course, much of that infrastructure had already
been damaged or allowed to become decrepit because of a deliberate
policy of Saddam Hussein to pressure, particularly the Shia, in the
south.
So at this point, the most formidable challenge we face is
reconstruction. This will be formidable for physical as well as
psychological reasons. Indeed, I would say this is not so much
reconstruction as it is redevelopment of human beings and a national
infrastructure that have suffered from decades of abuse and decades of
neglect. This is going to require patience and persistence and above
all, obviously, hard work.
Our goal is an Iraq that is moving toward democracy; an Iraq that is
whole; an Iraq that is free of weapons of mass destruction; an Iraq
which is at peace with its neighbors and within itself; an Iraq for
Iraqis -- for all Iraqis.
And for those who doubt that the United States has good intentions
toward the Muslim world, I can offer a thought, and that is a thought
about our great respect for Islam, and more particularly, the Shia of
Iraq. For the first time in so many years, they were able to
participate in the religious observance of the Arbayeen recently. And
it was a great demonstration of their faith and their desire to be
free that so many people took the pilgrimage to demonstrate their
devotion for the first time in 23 years; only possible by the
activities of a U.S.-led coalition.
President Bush has requested and Congress has provided some $2.4
billion to assist the people of Iraq in redeveloping that nation. The
first priorities will continue to be the restoration of basic
services, but we're also looking at key sectors where we can help make
immediate improvements in the life of all Iraqis, such as: educational
opportunities for Iraqi children, the schools will shortly open, as
well as some of the universities; roads and bridges and ports that are
functional and safe; agricultural fields which are both productive and
safe.
And we are finding as we get these -- what we are finding as we get
these efforts underway is something that we had hoped, prior to the
conflict, would be the case: the technical expertise to do almost all
of this already resides in Iraq. People know what to do to make their
country prosper and they would have done it long ago if Saddam Hussein
had simply let them.
The key now, obviously, is for Iraqis to develop a political system
that will not hold them back. And so the coalition and the United
States, particularly, are helping Iraqis to form an interim authority,
or an IIA. This authority will be chosen by Iraqis and it is meant to
be temporary, hence the word "interim." It operates only until free
and fair elections bring a legitimate government to power.
Nonetheless, it's absolutely imperative that this IIA be broadly
representative, drawing from all of Iraq's ethnic groups and regions,
including liberated Iraqis from inside as well as outside the country
-- those free Iraqis who are now returning home from all around the
world.
The IIA will give Iraqis a way to participate in the economic and
political reconstruction of a country from the very beginning. And as
it is able, this authority will assume responsibilities ever more
daily for the functioning of the government.
The U.S. and coalition countries have helped convene two meetings, the
most recently held Monday, in Baghdad, which have helped create a
national dialogue about governance. These sessions have been
successful, successful enough that the participants believe they can
form an IIA within the next few weeks.
And the role of the United States and our allies is limited in this
regard. We are helping to create a level playing field for this
energized Iraqi political process, but we will step in to stop any
attempts to seize power and return the people of Iraq to servitude.
That is part of the ongoing responsibility we accept for security in
Iraq. President Bush has said that "we are committed to helping Iraq
build a future of freedom, of dignity, and of peace." The United
States does not see this in any sense as an occupation, but rather, we
see it as an obligation -- an obligation that we will stay long enough
to see this through. And as the President has made very, very clear,
not one day longer. In the meantime, we will continue to root out
remaining elements of the regime. We will continue to hunt down the
terrorists who have used Iraq as a safe-haven for far too many years
and of course, we will continue to seek out Saddam Hussein's weapons
of mass destruction.
I want to be clear here today that I am extraordinarily confident that
Iraq had those capabilities. Rarely have the intelligence agencies of
this country and our allies been so unified on any subject. Now, I
know there are those, probably in this audience, that think because we
have found little so far, that there's nothing to find. But I'd like
to suggest to you a more frightening reality, and that is that it is
far too easy to hide and to move these capabilities, and far too
difficult to find them, especially in the face of a determined and
practiced effort to conceal them.
And the regime of Saddam Hussein was nothing if not practiced. They
had years of close scrutiny in which to learn how to deceive
inspectors. And then they had four unfettered years to do as they
pleased.
What emerged was a well-developed and sophisticated strategy of
dispersal. For example, Secretary Powell told the United Nations
Security Council on February 5th, "We know that Iraq has embedded key
portions of its illicit chemical weapons infrastructure within its
legitimate civilian industry." And as for Iraq's biological weapons
program, Secretary Powell pointed out that multiple sources have told
us of mobile facilities built while UNSCOM inspectors were actually in
Iraq and designed especially and only to avoid detection.
Now, whether it is the mobile labs or weapons disguised as industry,
we are finding now that the capabilities were even more dispersed and
disguised than we had thought. The evidence of Saddam Hussein's
programs is likely to be spread across many hundreds and even possibly
thousands of sites in Iraq. It is going to take us months to find this
material, but find it we will.
Don't forget that it was information provided by defectors, including
members of Saddam Hussein's immediate family and scientists from
within the program, that was critical and at times, essential, to
revealing what UN inspectors were able to figure out and find out in
the past. That is one reason why an inspection regime based on
anything other than genuine disarmament by the now-defunct regime was
doomed to fail in Iraq.
Indeed, my optimism that we will find evidence of Iraq's weapons soon
is largely a function of the cooperation that we are beginning to get
from Iraqi scientists and former Iraqi officials.
We're interviewing these people and continuing to seek others based on
the intelligence we have about who was instrumental in each of these
programs.
And the people we have found are already leading us to other people,
as well as to computer files and documents. And with these sources of
information, we can say with a high degree of confidence that we will
find Iraq's unconventional weapons.
Many of these individuals are proving most helpful, but it may take
some time to persuade others to cooperate with us because again, we
are talking about a cultural change. People have to be certain that
the climate of fear and the climate of intimidation is truly gone for
good before they will be willing to truly talk about the past. And
indeed, there is one sad sign that Iraqis are beginning to believe.
Hundreds of people are coming forward showing reporters and soldiers
and marines the scars on their bodies, the cigarette burns, the
electric shocks, the mutilated hands, feet and ears.
They are starting to share their stories of pain, of execution and of
extortion, of loved ones who disappeared. They are beginning to show
us mass graves and obscene torture chambers. The more we learn about
just how bad it was, the more we know that this is going to be a long
recovery and a hard reckoning for Iraqis. But that is what it will
take: a firm decision to reconcile with the past and to move on from
the past, as well as the firm determination to undo the legacy of
brutality they inherited from Saddam Hussein.
Back in 1962, President Kennedy said that in a world where the
possession of nuclear weapons was commonplace, "There would be no
rest, no stability, no security, and no chance of effective
disarmament. There would only be the increased chance of accidental
war - and an increased necessity for the great powers to involve
themselves in what otherwise would be local conflicts."
Well, I believe the world of 2003 is a safer one than that predicted.
We are coming ever closer, however, to realizing in one way, that
terrible vision. September 11th taught us the risks of complacency, of
knowing that we are not facing up to the threats and the challenges of
the day and simply allowing the difficulties of doing so to defeat us.
Iraq is an object lesson in what can happen if we leave the problems
of proliferation to a solution of the past. The use of military force
to destroy a perverse political culture was a point of no return we
don't want to keep coming back to. But if we are to avoid doing so, we
must have effective and peaceful means of achieving and enforcing that
change. And yet, while Iraq illustrates the gaps we have in our global
architecture for dealing with weapons of mass destruction, it is not
the template. This is not a one-size-fits-all policy. In fact, our
President has stated that the threat we face from North Korea's
nuclear problem is something that can be dealt with through patient,
deliberate and multilateral diplomacy. And indeed, we're working now,
well, with the governments of China, Japan, the Republic of Korea
toward that end. And there are certainly other success stories we can
point to.
The United States, the Russian Federation and other Soviet states have
worked together for years in the Cooperative Threat Reduction program,
which has led to the elimination of substantial Cold War capabilities.
For that matter, the United Nations responded swiftly to the attacks
on our nation on September 11th and helped direct international
reaction into concrete action to combat terrorists and to close down
the financial networks that support them. This fact will be rather
graphically demonstrated in about an hour or so when Secretary Powell
unveils the Global Patterns of Terrorism, and we will see a rather
significant, more than 40 percent, decline because of international
activities to combat the problem of terrorism.
But far too often when we talk about proliferation challenges, the
international community has a tendency to put off difficult decisions,
as if these difficult decisions will go away on their own. I believe
our President has shown the courage to make these difficult decisions,
to do what is necessary to protect the interests of this nation and
the lives of our citizens.
Now, however, it is time for the community of nations to work
together, to start asking the right questions and start doing what is
necessary to reshape, to reinvigorate that architecture of our common
security. And certainly, this government of yours is prepared to do
what it takes. We are prepared to work with all those who are willing
to find effective ways to address the most pressing challenges of our
time -- the challenges not just for the security of this nation, but
for all nations.
And that's why I asked Admiral Gaffney to have the opportunity to come
to this university today. Because I want to challenge you to discuss
this in your classrooms, and in your seminars and in your fora. And I
want you to use the time the government and our various bureaucracies
have given you to advance your education to attack this problem.
That's why I asked to come here today. I'm going to leave you with
that challenge and with my enormous gratitude for doing me the honor
of listening to me this morning.
Thank you very much.
(Applause.)
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)



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