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"Saddam Hussein can now be expected to begin another round of empty concessions, transparently false denials. No doubt he will play a last-minute game of deception. The game is over. All the world can rise to this moment. The community of free nations can show that it is strong and confident and determined to keep the peace."
President George W. Bush at the White House on Feb. 6, 2003

Iraq's Quest for Nuclear Weapons

By Jim Garamone / American Forces Press Service

     WASHINGTON, Feb. 5, 2003 — Following the 1991 Persian Gulf War, the U.S. military gathered huge piles of information and came up with a long list of "lessons learned."
     The United States wasn't the only place with experts mulling over the war. One Indian general came up with his succinct own lessons learned from the conflict: "Never fight the Americans without nuclear weapons."
     A huge post-war surprise for the victorious Gulf War coalition was how close Iraq had been to having nuclear warheads.
     Iraq was within months of producing an enriched-uranium nuclear weapon when the Persian Gulf War started in January 1991. Had Iraq waited until it had a nuke and had mounted it on a Scud missile begs the question of what the worldwide response would have been to its invasion of Kuwait in August 1990. More

Iraq's Biological Warfare Agents

By Jim Garamone / American Forces Press Service

     WASHINGTON, Jan. 27, 2003 — With weapons of mass destruction, what you don't know can kill you.
     Iraq has persistently lied, delayed and deceived U.N. inspectors who are in the country to ensure it is ridding itself of chemical, biological and nuclear capabilities. One of the biggest problems is just what is the size and scope of the Iraqi biological weapons program?
     When the first inspectors were in Iraq from 1992 to 1998, it took until 1995 to learn Iraq had an offensive biological weapons program. That only came to light because Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's son-in-law defected. Hussein Kamal had been in charge of the Iraqi biological warfare program since 1988. He told inspectors about the program and where to look. More

Iraq's Use of Chemical Weapons

By Jim Garamone / American Forces Press Service

     WASHINGTON, Jan. 23, 2003 — Iraq's chemical weapons arsenal is not some hypothetical problem, but a danger and a weapon Saddam Hussein has used in the past.
     Hussein had been in power only a year when he declared war on neighboring Iran in 1980. He flexed his muscles against the Persian Gulf region's largest military power, but one weakened by post-shah disarray. Iraq had a more modern military and banked on a fast, easy victory.
     Iranian leaders, with a population of 55 million at their disposal, had no compunctions about launching low-tech "human wave" attacks against the Iraqis. Hussein's blitzkrieg devolved into a trench war of attrition, but one he couldn't afford with a population of only about 20 million. More

NIGHT OPS — Sailors from Visit, Board, Search and Seizure Team 2 assigned to the USS Valley Forge search for ships that could be transporting illegal cargo from Iraq. The Valley Forge is currently forward deployed and is conducting Maritime Interdiction Operations in the Central Command area of responsiblity in support of U.N. sanctions on Iraq. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 1st Class Shawn Eklund

Just Who Is Saddam Hussein?

By Jim Garamone / American Forces Press Service

Saddam Hussein: President of Iraq since 1979 (vice president from 1968-79). Dictator who stops at nothing to preserve personal power and regime survival. After the 1968 Ba'athist Coup, began his career as Chief of Iraq's security services. Courtesy U.S. State Dept.

      WASHINGTON, Jan. 22, 2003 — He's a madman and a danger to the world. He's a revolutionary leader. He's a savior of his people.
     Just who is Saddam Hussein?
     The Iraqi president is secretive about just about everything from his whereabouts to his methods. But some things are known.
     Hussein was born in Tikrit, Iraq on April 28, 1937. The city is the seat of Saladdin province northwest of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. Tikrit is still Hussein's base.
     Hussein grew up in the town of Al Dawr. Visitors to the area described it as a mud-brick town on the banks of the Tigris River. More

More News on Iraq

Omissions from the Iraqi Declaration To the U.N. Security Council

Bush Says Iraq Must 'Fully Disclose' or 'Game's Over

President Outlines Iraqi Threat

President's Remarks at the United Nations

No-Fly Zone Violations

CIA Report on Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction

A Decade of Deception and Defiance

Iraq's Defiance of UN Resolutions

Resources

United Kingdom: Dossier on Iraq (pdf)

United Kingdom: Dealing with the Iraqi Threat