Secretary of State Colin Powell Wednesday went before the U.N. Security Council with tapes and satellite photos to bolster the Bush administration's case that Iraq has no intention of complying with the U.N. resolution giving it a "last chance" to disarm.
Mr. Powell's 77 minute presentation included what had been highly-classified U.S. intelligence information and provided what he said was "irrefutable and undeniable" evidence that Iraq is conspiring to conceal banned weapons from U.N. inspectors.
He told the council the information makes clear Iraq is in "further material breach" of resolution 1441 and warned that the credibility of the United Nations itself is at stake if it fails to act. "We wrote 1441 to give Iraq one last chance," he said. "Iraq is not so far taking that one last chance. We must not shrink from whatever is ahead of us. We must not fail in our duty and our responsibility to the citizens of the countries that are represented by this body."
Mr. Powell said Iraq's deception was part of a deliberate policy going back a dozen years. His presentation also included charges that Iraq has worked closely with senior associates of terrorist mastermind Osama Bin Laden.
