Terry Everett, February 10, 2003

After twelve years of violating one UN resolution after another, and now flagrantly disregarding a UN order to disclose his weapons of mass destruction, Saddam Hussein has run up against a wall - the United States of America. Last week, Secretary of State Colin Powell presented the world with vivid evidence of Saddam's hiding of illegal weapons. Afterwards, President Bush sternly called Iraq's bluff: either disarm or be disarmed.

Using satellite photos, audio intercepts, statements of Iraqi defectors, and other intelligence sources, Secretary Powell laid out a compelling case before the UN Security Council that Iraq not only has the means to produce weapons of mass destruction, but is actively exploiting those means. Furthermore, he offered proof that Saddam's regime is busy deceiving the UN inspection teams even as time is running out. In effect, Saddam is making a mockery of the UN's resolution ordering it to disarm.

The UN's chief inspector, Dr. Hans Blix, says Iraq has not accounted for up to 25,000 liters of anthrax and 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin - huge quantities of very dangerous biological agents. The U.S. has learned through firsthand reports that Saddam has seven biological weapons factories on wheels and rails capable of producing vast amounts of toxins. Even today, these mobile death labs and factories are easily hidden among the many thousands of trucks and rail cars passing through Iraq.

Again, Dr. Blix notes that Iraq has not disclosed the whereabouts of 6,500 aerial chemical bombs which could contain approximately 1,000 tons of deadly chemical agents. In fact, Iraq has failed to account for 550 artillery shells filled with lethal mustard gas, some 30,000 empty chemical munitions, and enough material to produce 500 tons of chemical agents. Instead of placing his chemical weapons factories on wheels as he has done with his biological warfare program, Saddam has cleverly constructed "dual-use" factories which can easily be shifted from producing deadly chemical agents to benign consumer goods. Satellite images and intercepted communications from Iraq back up these reports.

Perhaps Saddam's greatest desire is to possess nuclear weapons. We know that he has teams of nuclear scientists with knowledge to build a bomb. While he does lack the fissile material necessary to form the active component of a nuclear bomb, he is seeking the means to acquire it, both from foreign sources and from enriching uranium he already has. We know that Iraq purchased highly specialized tools for enriching uranium, and Iraqi defectors say that as far back as the Gulf War Saddam was just five years away from developing a nuclear bomb. To conceal his efforts from UN inspectors, Saddam has hidden material and paperwork in private homes and vehicles scattered about the country.

Finally, Iraq has a long history of supporting terrorism and notorious terrorist groups from the Hamas to Al Qaeda. Most recently, Saddam has allowed senior Al Qaeda operative, Musab Al Zarqawi, to set-up shop in Iraq. Al Zarqawi heads the terror cell responsible for the October murder of U.S. official Lawrence Foley in Jordan and directs a poisons laboratory in Iraq.

Saddam has run afoul of UN resolutions for decades while secretly building a horrific arsenal for terrorism. It should be pointed out that over 40 countries have already sided with the U.S. and have agreed to offer assistance in some form in the war against terrorism. President Bush has reaffirmed that the U.S. will disarm Iraq with or without UN help. Hopefully, Saddam will choose peace over war.

Congressman Terry Everett represents Alabama's Second Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.