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Rumsfeld: Burden of Proof Should be on Saddam, Not U.S.
Friday, September 20, 2002
By Kathleen T. Rhem
American Forces Press Service

"I suspect that, in retrospect, most of those investigating 9/11 would have supported preventive action to pre-empt that threat if it had been possible to see it coming," Rumsfeld said.



[ ... ]

Compare the scraps of information the government had on Iraq before Sept. 11 to the volumes it has today, factor in America's demonstrated vulnerability after Sept. 11 and, "the case the president made should be clear," Rumsfeld said in prepared testimony for a Sept. 18 House hearing.



WASHINGTON -- AFIS
Recent writing on the wall about Saddam Hussein's intentions and capabilities should be enough to justify pre-emptive military action without the United States providing further evidence, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told Congress this week.

"It is strange that some seem to want to put the burden of proof on us," Rumsfeld said in testimony prepared for appearances before the House and Senate Armed Services Committees. "The burden of proof ought to be on him, to prove he has disarmed, to prove he no longer poses a threat to peace and security."

The secretary repeatedly said the Iraqi dictator has failed to comply with 16 U.N. resolutions he agreed to at the end of the Persian Gulf War. Those resolutions required Hussein to disarm and to prove to the United Nations that he had done so.

Several terrorist states are working to acquire weapons of mass destruction, Rumsfeld said, but none has so far shown the "murderous combination of intent and capability" as has Hussein's regime. He outlined a list of at least 35 atrocities and crimes Hussein and his government have committed against Iraqi citizens and the country's neighbors.
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2002 © The United States Department of Defense.

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