Christopher Shays: “based on all we have learned during 4 years of hearings by the Committee on Government Reform, Subcommittee on National…”

“based on all we have learned during 4 years of hearings by the Committee on Government Reform, Subcommittee on National Security and International Relations, it cannot be disputed, Saddam Hussein had a robust chemical, biological and nuclear weapons program before the Gulf War. He had a robust program after the war. And he ejected United Nations inspectors when we had successfully begun to dismantle his weapons of mass destruction, particularly when we got below the weeds to the real roots, the engineers and scientists who sustain the program. No credible source, public or classified, has met the burden of proof on Iraq to demonstrate Saddam Hussein has stopped pursuing weapons of mass destruction and disarmed. Having learned the hard lesson that we cannot be defeated in conventional combat, he is more determined than ever to deploy chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons against us. His support of terrorist groups also means he is likely to deploy these weapons using surrogates. Some say until Iraq poses an imminent threat to the United States and until he both has a nuclear weapon and threatens to use it, or until we have smoking-gun evidence Saddam Hussein launched the planes into the World Trade Center, we should be content to contain and deter an Iraqi regime openly amassing weapons of mass death. I could not disagree more. Saddam Hussein will not be deterred, and he will not be contained.”