Mr.
Secretary General, Mr. President, distinguished delegates,
and ladies and gentlemen:
We
meet one year and one day after a terrorist attack brought
grief to my country, and brought grief to many citizens
of our world. Yesterday, we remembered the innocent lives
taken that terrible morning. Today, we turn to the urgent
duty of protecting other lives, without illusion and without
fear.
We've
accomplished much in the last year -- in Afghanistan and
beyond. We have much yet to do -- in Afghanistan and beyond.
Many nations represented here have joined in the fight
against global terror, and the people of the United States
are grateful.
The
United Nations was born in the hope that survived a world
war -- the hope of a world moving toward justice, escaping
old patterns of conflict and fear. The founding members
resolved that the peace of the world must never again
be destroyed by the will and wickedness of any man. We
created the United Nations Security Council, so that,
unlike the League of Nations, our deliberations would
be more than talk, our resolutions would be more than
wishes. After generations of deceitful
dictators and broken treaties and squandered lives, we
dedicated ourselves to standards of human dignity shared
by all, and to a system of security defended by all.
Today,
these standards, and this security, are challenged. Our
commitment to human dignity is challenged by persistent
poverty and raging disease. The suffering is great, and
our responsibilities are clear. The United States is joining
with the world to supply aid where it reaches people and
lifts up lives, to extend trade and the prosperity it
brings, and to bring medical care where it is desperately
needed.
As
a symbol of our commitment to human dignity, the United
States will return to UNESCO. (Applause.) This organization
has been reformed and America will participate fully in
its mission to advance human rights and tolerance and
learning.
Our
common security is challenged by regional conflicts --
ethnic and religious strife that is ancient, but not inevitable.
In the Middle East, there can be no peace for either side
without freedom for both sides. America stands committed
to an independent and democratic Palestine, living side
by side with Israel in peace and security. Like all other
people, Palestinians deserve a government that serves
their interests and listens to their voices. My nation
will continue to encourage all parties to step up to their
responsibilities as we seek a just and comprehensive settlement
to the conflict.
Above
all, our principles and our security are challenged today
by outlaw groups and regimes that accept no law of morality
and have no limit to their violent ambitions. In the attacks
on America a year ago, we saw the destructive intentions
of our enemies. This threat hides within many nations,
including my own. In cells and camps, terrorists are plotting
further destruction, and building new bases for their
war against civilization. And our greatest fear is that
terrorists will find a shortcut to their mad ambitions
when an outlaw regime supplies them with the technologies
to kill on a massive scale.
In
one place -- in one regime -- we find all these dangers,
in their most lethal and aggressive forms, exactly the
kind of aggressive threat the United Nations was born
to confront.
Twelve
years ago, Iraq invaded Kuwait without provocation. And
the regime's forces were poised to continue their march
to seize other countries and their resources. Had Saddam
Hussein been appeased instead of stopped, he would have
endangered the peace and stability of the world. Yet this
aggression was stopped -- by the might of coalition forces
and the will of the United Nations.
To
suspend hostilities, to spare himself, Iraq's dictator
accepted a series of commitments. The terms were clear,
to him and to all. And he agreed to prove he is complying
with every one of those obligations.
He
has proven instead only his contempt for the United Nations,
and for all his pledges. By breaking every pledge -- by
his deceptions, and by his cruelties -- Saddam Hussein
has made the case against himself.
In
1991, Security Council Resolution 688 demanded that the
Iraqi regime cease at once the repression of its own people,
including the systematic repression of minorities -- which
the Council said, threatened international peace and security
in the region. This demand goes ignored.
Last
year, the U.N. Commission on Human Rights found that Iraq
continues to commit extremely grave violations of human
rights, and that the regime's repression is all pervasive.
Tens of thousands of political opponents and ordinary
citizens have been subjected to arbitrary arrest and imprisonment,
summary execution, and torture by beating and burning,
electric shock, starvation, mutilation, and rape. Wives
are tortured in front of their husbands, children in the
presence of their parents -- and all of these horrors
concealed from the world by the apparatus of a totalitarian
state.
In
1991, the U.N. Security Council, through Resolutions 686
and 687, demanded that Iraq return all prisoners from
Kuwait and other lands. Iraq's regime agreed. It broke
its promise. Last year the Secretary General's high-level
coordinator for this issue reported that Kuwait, Saudi,
Indian, Syrian, Lebanese, Iranian, Egyptian, Bahraini,
and Omani nationals remain unaccounted for -- more than
600 people. One American pilot is among them.
In
1991, the U.N. Security Council, through Resolution 687,
demanded that Iraq renounce all involvement with terrorism,
and permit no terrorist organizations to operate in Iraq.
Iraq's regime agreed. It broke this promise. In violation
of Security Council Resolution 1373, Iraq continues to
shelter and support terrorist organizations that direct
violence against Iran, Israel, and Western governments.
Iraqi dissidents abroad are targeted for murder. In 1993,
Iraq attempted to assassinate the Emir of Kuwait and a
former American President. Iraq's government openly praised
the attacks of September the 11th. And al Qaeda terrorists
escaped from Afghanistan and are known to be in Iraq.
In
1991, the Iraqi regime agreed to destroy and stop developing
all weapons of mass destruction and long-range missiles,
and to prove to the world it has done so by complying
with rigorous inspections. Iraq has broken every aspect
of this fundamental pledge.
From
1991 to 1995, the Iraqi regime said it had no biological
weapons. After a senior official in its weapons program
defected and exposed this lie, the regime admitted to
producing tens of thousands of liters of anthrax and other
deadly biological agents for use with Scud warheads, aerial
bombs, and aircraft spray tanks. U.N. inspectors believe
Iraq has produced two to four times the amount of biological
agents it declared, and has failed to account for more
than three metric tons of material that could be used
to produce biological weapons. Right now, Iraq is expanding
and improving facilities that were used for the production
of biological weapons.
United
Nations' inspections also revealed that Iraq likely maintains
stockpiles of VX, mustard and other chemical agents, and
that the regime is rebuilding and expanding facilities
capable of producing chemical weapons.
And
in 1995, after four years of deception, Iraq finally admitted
it had a crash nuclear weapons program prior to the Gulf
War. We know now, were it not for that war, the regime
in Iraq would likely have possessed a nuclear weapon no
later than 1993.
Today,
Iraq continues to withhold important information about
its nuclear program -- weapons design, procurement logs,
experiment data, an accounting of nuclear materials and
documentation of foreign assistance. Iraq employs capable
nuclear scientists and technicians. It retains physical
infrastructure needed to build a nuclear weapon. Iraq
has made several attempts to buy high-strength aluminum
tubes used to enrich uranium for a nuclear weapon. Should
Iraq acquire fissile material, it would be able to build
a nuclear weapon within a year. And Iraq's state-controlled
media has reported numerous meetings between Saddam Hussein
and his nuclear scientists, leaving little doubt about
his continued appetite for these weapons.
Iraq
also possesses a force of Scud-type missiles with ranges
beyond the 150 kilometers permitted by the U.N. Work at
testing and production facilities shows that Iraq is building
more long-range missiles that it can inflict mass death
throughout the region.
In
1990, after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, the world imposed
economic sanctions on Iraq. Those sanctions were maintained
after the war to compel the regime's compliance with Security
Council resolutions. In time, Iraq was allowed to use
oil revenues to buy food. Saddam Hussein has subverted
this program, working around the sanctions to buy missile
technology and military materials. He blames the suffering
of Iraq's people on the United Nations, even as he uses
his oil wealth to build lavish palaces for himself, and
to buy arms for his country. By refusing to comply with
his own agreements, he bears full guilt for the hunger
and misery of innocent Iraqi citizens.
In
1991, Iraq promised U.N. inspectors immediate and unrestricted
access to verify Iraq's commitment to rid itself of weapons
of mass destruction and long-range missiles. Iraq broke
this promise, spending seven years deceiving, evading,
and harassing U.N. inspectors before ceasing cooperation
entirely. Just months after the 1991 cease-fire, the Security
Council twice renewed its demand that the Iraqi regime
cooperate fully with inspectors, condemning Iraq's serious
violations of its obligations. The Security Council again
renewed that demand in 1994, and twice more in 1996, deploring
Iraq's clear violations of its obligations. The Security
Council renewed its demand three more times in 1997, citing
flagrant violations; and three more times in 1998, calling
Iraq's behavior totally unacceptable. And in 1999, the
demand was renewed yet again.
As
we meet today, it's been almost four years since the last
U.N. inspectors set foot in Iraq, four years for the Iraqi
regime to plan, and to build, and to test behind the cloak
of secrecy.
We
know that Saddam Hussein pursued weapons of mass murder
even when inspectors were in his country. Are we to assume
that he stopped when they left? The history, the logic,
and the facts lead to one conclusion: Saddam Hussein's
regime is a grave and gathering danger. To suggest otherwise
is to hope against the evidence. To assume this regime's
good faith is to bet the lives of millions and the peace
of the world in a reckless gamble. And this is a risk
we must not take.
Delegates
to the General Assembly, we have been more than patient.
We've tried sanctions. We've tried the carrot of oil for
food, and the stick of coalition military strikes. But
Saddam Hussein has defied all these efforts and continues
to develop weapons of mass destruction. The first time
we may be completely certain he has a -- nuclear weapons
is when, God forbids, he uses one. We owe it to all our
citizens to do everything in our power to prevent that
day from coming.
The
conduct of the Iraqi regime is a threat to the authority
of the United Nations, and a threat to peace. Iraq has
answered a decade of U.N. demands with a decade of defiance.
All the world now faces a test, and the United Nations
a difficult and defining moment. Are Security Council
resolutions to be honored and enforced, or cast aside
without consequence? Will the United Nations serve the
purpose of its founding, or will it be irrelevant?
The
United States helped found the United Nations. We want
the United Nations to be effective, and respectful, and
successful. We want the resolutions of the world's most
important multilateral body to be enforced. And right
now those resolutions are being unilaterally subverted
by the Iraqi regime. Our partnership of nations can meet
the test before us, by making clear what we now expect
of the Iraqi regime.
If
the Iraqi regime wishes peace, it will immediately and
unconditionally forswear, disclose, and remove or destroy
all weapons of mass destruction, long-range missiles,
and all related material.
If
the Iraqi regime wishes peace, it will immediately end
all support for terrorism and act to suppress it, as all
states are required to do by U.N. Security Council resolutions.
If
the Iraqi regime wishes peace, it will cease persecution
of its civilian population, including Shi'a, Sunnis, Kurds,
Turkomans, and others, again as required by Security Council
resolutions.
If
the Iraqi regime wishes peace, it will release or account
for all Gulf War personnel whose fate is still unknown.
It will return the remains of any who are deceased, return
stolen property, accept liability for losses resulting
from the invasion of Kuwait, and fully cooperate with
international efforts to resolve these issues, as required
by Security Council resolutions.
If
the Iraqi regime wishes peace, it will release or account
for all Gulf War personnel whose fate is still unknown.
It will return the remains of any who are deceased, return
stolen property, accept liability for losses resulting
from the invasion of Kuwait, and fully cooperate with
the international efforts to resolve these issues, as
required by Security Council resolutions.
If
the Iraqi regime wishes peace, it will immediately end
all illicit trade outside the oil-for-food program. It
will accept U.N. administration of funds from that program,
to ensure that the money is used fairly and promptly for
the benefit of the Iraqi people.
If
all these steps are taken, it will signal a new openness
and accountability in Iraq. And it could open the prospect
of the United Nations helping to build a government that
represents all Iraqis -- a government based on respect
for human rights, economic liberty, and internationally
supervised elections.
The
United States has no quarrel with the Iraqi people; they've
suffered too long in silent captivity. Liberty for the
Iraqi people is a great moral cause, and a great strategic
goal. The people of Iraq deserve it; the security of all
nations requires it. Free societies do not intimidate
through cruelty and conquest, and open societies do not
threaten the world with mass murder. The United States
supports political and economic liberty in a unified Iraq.
We
can harbor no illusions -- and that's important today
to remember. Saddam Hussein attacked Iran in 1980 and
Kuwait in 1990. He's fired ballistic missiles at Iran
and Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Israel. His regime once
ordered the killing of every person between the ages of
15 and 70 in certain Kurdish villages in northern Iraq.
He has gassed many Iranians, and 40 Iraqi villages.
My
nation will work with the U.N. Security Council to meet
our common challenge. If Iraq's regime defies us again,
the world must move deliberately, decisively to hold Iraq
to account. We will work with the U.N. Security Council
for the necessary resolutions. But the purposes of the
United States should not be doubted. The Security Council
resolutions will be enforced -- the just demands of peace
and security will be met -- or action will be unavoidable.
And a regime that has lost its legitimacy will also lose
its power.
Events
can turn in one of two ways: If we fail to act in the
face of danger, the people of Iraq will continue to live
in brutal submission. The regime will have new power to
bully and dominate and conquer its neighbors, condemning
the Middle East to more years of bloodshed and fear. The
regime will remain unstable -- the region will remain
unstable, with little hope of freedom, and isolated from
the progress of our times. With every step the Iraqi regime
takes toward gaining and deploying the most terrible weapons,
our own options to confront that regime will narrow. And
if an emboldened regime were to supply these weapons to
terrorist allies, then the attacks of September the 11th
would be a prelude to far greater horrors.
If
we meet our responsibilities, if we overcome this danger,
we can arrive at a very different future. The people of
Iraq can shake off their captivity. They can one day join
a democratic Afghanistan and a democratic Palestine, inspiring
reforms throughout the Muslim world. These nations can
show by their example that honest government, and respect
for women, and the great Islamic tradition of learning
can triumph in the Middle East and beyond. And we will
show that the promise of the United Nations can be fulfilled
in our time.
Neither
of these outcomes is certain. Both have been set before
us. We must choose between a world of fear and a world
of progress. We cannot stand by and do nothing while dangers
gather. We must stand up for our security, and for the
permanent rights and the hopes of mankind. By heritage
and by choice, the United States of America will make
that stand. And, delegates to the United Nations, you
have the power to make that stand, as well.
Thank
you very much.
