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Rumsfeld, Myers Discuss Iraq Situation On Talk Shows
Sunday, September 8, 2002
By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

Well, the president has, I think, put it exactly right. He has said that the one choice we don't have is to do nothing. He has decided to go to the Congress and to the United Nations later this week and make the case of what Iraq has done for 11 years. It has invaded its neighbors. It's violated almost every single U.N. resolution that relates to Iraq, and has, against the agreement they had to disarm; they proceeded to develop weapons of mass destruction -- chemical, biological, and nuclear. And they create a problem for the international community that's significant. And the president has initiated a discussion, a dialogue, a debate, which I think is a good thing. And there are a variety of ways that the world might approach it, but not acting, I think, probably -- not recognizing the seriousness of the problem, as the president said -- is the one thing we can't do.
-- U.S. Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld

WASHINGTON -- AFIS
The Defense Department's senior leaders discussed the Iraq situation on the Sunday national television talk shows, just days before the one-year anniversary of 9-11.

Appearing on CBS's "Face the Nation," Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld pointed out that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein has repeatedly broken promises Iraq made at the end of the Gulf War to disarm and to discontinue its weapons of mass destruction programs.

The secretary also asserted that Iraq is on the list of the world's terrorist states, and under Saddam Iraq continues to possess chemical and biological weapons, and seeks to acquire nuclear arms, as well. As such, he said, Iraq represents a clear and present danger to America -- and to the world.

Show host Bob Schieffer asked Rumsfeld if the United States was close to going to war against Iraq. The secretary said President Bush has decided that a regime change in Iraq is necessary, but hasn't yet decided how it would be accomplished. The nation's leader is slated to go before the United Nations to "make what he believes to be is a recommendation to the international community and to the world" about what to do about Saddam and Iraq, Rumsfeld said.

Iraq, Rumsfeld said, has invaded its neighbors, persists in violating U.N. resolutions it had agreed to, and continues to amass weapons of mass destruction, creating a significant problem for the international community.

The world can approach the problem of Saddam in a number of ways, Rumsfeld remarked. However, he emphasized that he agrees with the president in that doing nothing is not an option.
(More: DoD News Source)
2002 © The United States Department of Defense.

* Secretary Rumsfeld's Interview On Face The Nation

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