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Powell: U.S. facing 'critical moment' on Iraq
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Secretary of State Colin Powell said Thursday the United States and the United Nations are being tested and face a "critical moment" in the confrontation with Iraq. "Are we going to allow an individual such as Saddam Hussein to continue to develop these weapons of mass destruction or deceive us into believing he isn't when we know he is because it's too hard to face the consequences of dealing with the truth," Powell told a Senate appropriations subcommittee as the administration stepped up its efforts to win support both at home and abroad for taking military action against Iraq. "The moment we find ourselves in now is a critical moment where we are being tested and where the Security Council of the United Nations and the international community is being tested," Powell said. He also repeated the U.S. contention that the United Nations risks becoming "irrelevant if it passes resolution after resolution that is simply totally ignored by a country in a situation where that country continues to develop weapons of mass destruction." But Powell faced tough questions from Senate Democrats, including South Carolina's Fritz Hollings, who asked why the United States doesn't have a hit team take out Saddam. Others chastised the White House for offering unappropriated funds to Turkey. The questions came during an hourlong subcommittee hearing Thursday morning. Similar recent meetings have been less about budgets and more a chance for the senators to ask questions of the nation's top diplomat. The United States has pushed, through a U.N. Security Council resolution, for Iraq to destroy its alleged biological, chemical and nuclear weapons. France, Germany and Russia have led opposition for a proposed second resolution that could clear the way for military action. The Security Council meets Friday to hear a report on Iraq disarmament from U.N. weapons inspectors. Powell is expected to address the council afterward. Hollings, said he has heard recently that the Bush administration's goal in Iraq is no longer disarmament but regime change. He asked Powell to clarify. Powell said disarmament is still an option for Iraq. "Even at this late date, it is possible to achieve a peaceful solution if Saddam Hussein is willing to do what we've asked him to do," Powell said. Hollings then questioned whether disarmament would be enough to make Iraq safe. "If you remove the weapons of mass destruction, don't you still have to remove Saddam Hussein?" Hollings said. "That fellow can just start building bombs all over again. I think you and I can agree that removing Saddam Hussein is the mission." Hollings then asked if regime change is a White House goal, why doesn't the United States assassinate Saddam. "Why not get a hit team and get rid of him," he said. "Why start a war?" Powell said part of the problem is that no one is sure where Saddam is within Iraq. "I don't think he is as targetable as is often suggested," Powell said. "He is a survivor." Hollings, a seven-term senator, pushed further, asking why the United States doesn't hit Saddam with a missile. Powell said that might be an option if and when the United States is engaged in armed conflict with Iraq. Hollings said he thought the United States already is engaged. "We are in armed conflict," he said. "The president said we're in a terrorist war and in a terrorist war, terrorists are armed combatants, so you can kill them. So you can go ahead and hit him, couldn't you? Powell declined comment. "I frankly don't want to talk about targeting or who might be targeted at an open hearing like this," he said. Weapons to bin LadenSen. Judd Gregg, R-New Hampshire, noted recent statements in which Osama bin Laden reportedly said that acquiring weapons for the defense of Muslims is a religious duty. He asked Powell what would stop Saddam from providing such weapons to bin Laden? The question gave Powell a chance to repeat the White House's contention that Iraq has links to bin Laden's terrorist network, al Qaeda. "Nothing is there to stop him today if he chooses to do so," Powell said. "We want to take away his option of doing so by disarming the Iraqi regime and Saddam Hussein. ... We have to go after these individuals but also the potential sources of their weaponry. ... "We are being tested and the Security Council of the United Nations and the international community is being tested," Powell said. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, told Powell he is asked by Vermonters how the United States got into its current position with the Security Council. "How has it come to this?" he said. "After 9/11, the Germans were marching in Berlin in support, [French newspaper] Le Monde supported us. And now we have deep divisions in the Security Council. Some of our closest allies have raised serious concerns." Powell said he realizes that France, Germany and Russia want proof that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction, but "we don't want to wait around until the proof is good enough to go to a court of law. We don't want to wait until weapons of mass destruction end up in New York or Vermont." Leahy criticized the White House for offering billions of dollars to Turkey in a deal to allow U.S. soldiers in the country in preparation for an invasion of Iraq from the north. Earlier this week, Turkey's parliament narrowly rejected the multibillion-dollar U.S. troop deal. The country's leaders are considering whether to hold another ballot. Leahy said if the White House is going to promise money, it should "come on up here and make sure that the Congress will actually back up that money."
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