The US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has repeated US charges that Iraq is actively developing biological arms and other weapons of mass destruction.
Mr Rumsfeld’s verbal attack on Iraq came as the administration is preparing a new national security strategy that a US defence official said is expected to call for pre-emptive military action against states that support terrorism and seek weapons of mass destruction.
"If you want to know a world class liar, it's Saddam Hussein," Rumsfeld told hundreds of military personnel assembled at the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain. "He's a pro at disinformation."
Rumsfeld's comments were prompted by an Iraqi statement yesterday asserting that Baghdad was ready to prove that it had no secret program to develop nuclear weapons nor possessed chemical or biological weapons.
"I say he's lying," Rumsfeld said. "It's not complicated." Rumsfeld stopped short of threatening military action against Iraq, telling the troops "the final answer as to what else might be done is above my pay grade."
But as in earlier stops on an overseas tour, he stressed that the United States faces a new, more urgent threat in the form of states with weapons of mass destruction allied to faceless terrorist groups.
A US defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed a Washington Post report that pre-emptive military action to counter the threat was expected to be adopted as a formal option in a new national security strategy.
President George W. Bush previewed the new doctrine in a graduation speech to West Point cadets June 1, warning that pre-emptive military action may be necessary.
In talking points prepared for a NATO defense ministers' meeting earlier this week in which he urged the alliance to take the offensive, Rumsfeld said "absolute proof cannot be a precondition for action."
"Terrorist states are seeking weapons of mass destruction, let there be no doubt," Rumsfeld said here. "We have all the evidence anyone needs."
AFP