The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
weapons of
mass destruction “that will be used to terrorize nations, they will
be held
accountable”.
204.
Asked if the
definition of terrorism was being expanded to countries like
North
Korea which
did not just harbour terrorists but developed such weapons,
President Bush
stated:
“… we want
North Korea to allow inspectors in …
“So part of
the war on terror is to deny … weapons to be used for means of
terror
getting
into the hands of nations that will use them.
…
“… I’ve
always had that definition, as far as I’m concerned.”
205.
Asked when and
where President Bush had included any country that
produced
weapons of
mass destruction in his definition of terrorist aiding states, Mr
Ari Fleischer,
President
Bush’s Press Secretary, suggested that referred to “the obvious
and
well‑known
fact that Iraq and North Korea” were already listed by the US
State
Department
as state sponsors of terrorism.107
206.
Mr Fleischer
subsequently referred to concerns that Al Qaida or another
terrorist
organisation
would seek to acquire nuclear weapons from Iraq or North Korea.
That
was
“another way they would use nuclear weapons if they were to give
them to another
nation or
an entity, a terrorist group like Al Qaida”.
207.
Following
President Bush’s remarks, speculation about the possibility
of
military
action against Iraq immediately increased.
208.
The British
Embassy Washington commented that although the White
House
spokesman
had described President Bush’s remarks as a re-iteration of
existing policy,
they would
fuel media speculation about a shift towards military moves towards
Iraq.108
In its
public posture the US was keeping all options open.
209.
In the
Embassy’s view, a debate behind closed doors indicated
unresolved
differences
between different elements of the US Administration about the way
ahead,
including
whether to support any of the opposition groups inside or outside
Iraq as part
of planning
for regime change.
210.
Asked about
the meaning of President Bush’s comments, Secretary Powell
stated
that the
President had not said what he meant and he was “not going to
prejudge what
it might
mean”.109
The only
way to make sure Iraq was complying with the
agreements
107
The White
House, 26 November 2001, Press
Briefing by Ari Fleischer.
108
Telegram
1589 Washington to FCO London, 26 November 2001, ‘Iraq: US Policy
on Regime Change’.
109
CNN,
26 November
2001, CNN Larry
King Live – Interview with Colin Powell.
348