Bill Clinton: “Iraq--open the sites that Mr. Butler believes that ought to be open. That's a problem for us because we believe that we…”

“Iraq--open the sites that Mr. Butler believes that ought to be open. That's a problem for us because we believe that we have to do everything we can, as quickly as we can, to check for chemical and biological weapons stocks. And as I told the American people the last time we had the standoff with Saddam, before he relented and let the inspectors go back, my concern is not to re-fight the Gulf war; my concern is to prepare our people for a new century, not only in positive ways like creating a big international financial framework that works for them, as that we just talked about, but also to make sure we have the tools to protect ourselves against chemical and biological weapons. So tonight I can't rule out, or in, any options. But I can tell you I'm very concerned about this, and I don't think the American people should lose sight of the issue. What's the issue? Weapons of mass destruction. What's the answer? The U.N. inspectors. What's the problem? Saddam Hussein can't say who, where, or when about these inspection teams. That has to be done by the professionals. And sooner or later, something is going to give here, and I'm just very much hoping that we can reason with him before that happens. But we've got to have those sites open. Mr. Lehrer. Now, Ambassador Richardson with the U.N. and others in the administration have said the military option--just to pick up, just to continue your sentence--the military option remains on the table. The Ambassador from Iraq to the U.N. was on our program recently, and he pretty much acknowledged that Iraq is banking on that not being real, that the U.S. alone is not going to go in there and take out some suspected anthrax facility, particularly if it's in the palace where Saddam Hussein lives, et cetera, et cetera.”