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US says Iraq weapons report full of holes
( 2002-12-14 11:44 ) (7 )

The Bush administration dismissed Iraq's weapons declaration Friday as woefully short of facts. "We know that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction and has programs to create more," the State Department said.

The 12,000-page declaration to the United Nations does not account for a number of missing chemical and biological weapons and fails to explain purchases of equipment for a nuclear arms program, U.S. officials said.

"What's not in the document may be as important as what is in the document," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.

Russia, which submitted its own assessment of the Iraqi report, sent a delegation headed by Dmitry Rogozin, chairman of the international affairs committee of the Russian parliament, to Washington for talks.

After calling on Undersecretary of State Marc Grossman, another Russian official said there was no possibility Russia would provide troops to help in any conflict with Iraq. The official said, however, speaking on condition of anonymity, that it remains an open question whether Russia might provide other forms of support.

Britain, France and China also have seen the declaration and are assessing it. Early next week, copies will be given to the 10 other, nonpermanent, members of the U.N. Security Council, with sensitive sections deleted.

Next Thursday the council is to hear from chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix at a meeting that could launch consideration of using force to disarm Iraq.

Bush May Respond Next Week

President Bush withheld a public appraisal of the declaration, but administration officials said the president may respond next week, probably in a formal speech.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the administration's review of the declaration had not been completed, and Bush would speak only after he has received more information. "That time has not yet come," Fleischer said.

For Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, apparently it has.

He called the Iraqi declaration "a bogus report" and said: "I don't now how you could put any credibility in it."

And Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., who is due to become chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee next month, said the United States must work with the United Nations to gain access to scientists, workers, or anyone else who may have been in weapons installations.

"The inspectors can look at this stuff for the next six months and come out with zero," he told reporters.

In Vienna, Austria, the head of the U.N. nuclear control agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, said there was little new in the 2,400-page nuclear portion of Iraq's report. He told reporters the only new material was contained in about 300 pages of Arabic text which had not been fully translated.

In New York, a diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity said much of the material in the report was old, and that it left many questions unanswered.

State Department spokesman Boucher would not critique the declaration, but did not hesitate to denounce Iraq's record.

"We know that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction and has programs to create more," Boucher said. "We know that from previous inspections. We know that from our own information. We know that from what Iraq has bought in recent years."

Trigger Potential

Iraq used the lengthy document to support President Saddam Hussein's contention that he has no hidden weapons of mass destruction, U.S. officials said.

The tentative U.S. conclusion that the report was far off the mark sets the stage for a critical set of decisions by Bush, who views the declaration as Saddam's last chance to come clean, officials said.

The president's options include providing U.S. intelligence on suspected weapons programs to U.N. inspectors.

For the time being, Bush could simply seek more information from Iraq.

Or after a more thorough review of the declaration, the president could declare Saddam was in "material breach" of the Security Council's unanimous Nov. 9 resolution that authorized a new round of inspections.

That could trigger a decision to go to war to disarm Iraq.

Britain and several other allies would stand with the United States, but countries like Turkey, whose support could be critical, are making no commitments until they see what the Security Council decides to do.

And yet, a senior U.S. official told The Associated Press last week that the United States was not inclined to engage in prolonged debate in the council and might act on its own, especially if a veto loomed from one of the permanent members to block action.