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Rumsfeld urges Iraq to 'disclose what it has'

Rumsfeld, left, confers with Gen. Tommy Franks in Doha, Qatar, on Wednesday.
Rumsfeld, left, confers with Gen. Tommy Franks in Doha, Qatar, on Wednesday.

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U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says he believes that despite what Saddam Hussein claims, Iraq possesses weapons of mass destruction capabilities (December 12)
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DOHA, Qatar (CNN) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is calling on Iraq to "disclose what it has" in terms of weapons and to "participate in a process with the U.N. monitoring inspection group to disarm itself of those capabilities."

The United States and Britain have long contended that Baghdad has weapons of destruction, and Rumsfeld held to the Bush administration line Thursday.

"The issue is not whether or not they have weapons of mass destruction, the issue is whether or not the Iraqi government has made a decision that the game is up and it will comply with the United Nations resolutions," he said in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

Rumsfeld said it's important to allow enough time to review Iraq's declaration on weapons of mass destruction.

"It could have important implications for the world," Rumsfeld said. "The only fair thing to do is to allow the experts that are currently reviewing it the time that's necessary."

United Nations chief weapons inspector Hans Blix has said he hopes the inspectors' analysis of the "main part" of the declaration will be ready Friday for discussions with the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council. Blix said a "working version" of the main part will be shared with the rest of the council by Monday, and inspectors will report to the full Security Council next week.

Rumsfeld is in Qatar to witness current U.S. war games -- dubbed Internal Look -- designed to test a new command center at the al Udaid air base and also to prepare U.S. forces for a possible war against Iraq.

Rumsfeld was coy when asked by Blitzer if he had signed off on a war plan for Iraq.

"We always have plans prepared for various contingencies," he said. "In every corner of the globe, we've invested the time to make those kinds of plans."

Asked where he saw the U.S. military in two or three months, Rumsfeld replied:

"The job of the United States Department of Defense is to be ready to follow the orders of our country and we are ready to do that now and will be ready to do that then."



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