Mr. President, I rise today to discuss the danger of Iraq's development of medium range ballistic missiles in violation of United Nations Resolution 687. I recently chaired a hearing of the Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on International Security, Proliferation, and Federal Services on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs. Two of our witnesses were weapon inspectors in Iraq during the 1990s as part of United National Special Commission (UNSCOM) Inspection Teams. Their candid statements painted a dark picture and outlined some difficult decisions we have to make.
When the Gulf War ended, and the United National Security Council passed Resolution 687, Iraq agreed to destroy, remove or render harmless all ballistic missiles, related parts, and repair and production facilities with a range greater than 150 kilometers. Further, Iraq agreed to not develop or acquire them in the future. The dedicated men and women of UNSCOM and the International Atomic Energy Agency ferreted out and destroyed a large share of Iraq's prohibited weapons and related infrastructure in the 1990s. Despite the remarkable job they did, significant disarmament tasks and compliance issues continued through UNSCOM's departure from Iraq in December 1998.
Before the Gulf War, Iraq had a variety of missile programs. These programs were more than missile components and hardware. Iraq had a trained team of missile experts, capable of reverse engineering a Soviet SCUD missile and moving into indigenous production of an Iraqi version two years after initial acquisition. Their indigenous production capability depended upon low reliability, low technology, low safety, and a sophisticated foreign assistance and supplier network.
Iraq has retained a great deal of this knowledge. Its team remains largely intact working on permitted U.N. missile programs, which provide cover for proscribed missile development. The liquid-fueled Al-Samoud missile most likely is capable of exceeding the range threshold set by U.N. resolutions and is widely believed to be a precursor for longer-range missiles. The short-range Abhabil-100 missile program is providing Iraq with a solid-propellant infrastructure and other important technologies that could be applied to a longer-range missile in the future.
At what point do allowed programs fall under the heading of related parts or production capability for longer-range missiles? I think the answer in Iraq's case is now.
Likewise, Iraq maintains expertise in converting aircraft to unmanned aerial vehicles, lately demonstrated in modifications to L-29 trainer aircraft. These unmanned aerial vehicles could be used to attack Israel or American forces in the region.
Iraq has persistently deceived, evaded, and concealed its weapon programs. In spite of this, UNSCOM believed that it had accounted for the elimination of all but a handful of Iraq's SCUD missiles. So why are we faced with this ongoing threat to American security? It is true that Iraq was able to hide some assets. More importantly, though, Iraq was able to maintain its technical expertise and industrial base under the guise of U.N. permitted missile programs.
Iraq built its missile programs over a number of years with assistance from companies in many countries. We must work with our allies and international partners to contain the missile program. We must get inspectors back into Iraq and re-establish the U.N. monitoring program, and we must keep Saddam Hussein bottled up and force him to confront obstacles in every direction. An U.N. inspection team with full international support and access can complicate, constrain, and slow Iraq's clandestine efforts and give us a better understanding of what Iraq can do. But an inspection team, at its best, can contain or manage, not eliminate, the threat.
We are now faced with the possibility that Saddam Hussein could deploy weapons of mass destruction against his neighbors. We also must consider under what conditions would Hussein give a biological or chemical agent or short-range ballistic missile to a terrorist group? This January marked the eleventh anniversary since the start of the Gulf War. As the war on terrorism evolves, we cannot forget our past attempts, successes, and failures in Iraq.
President Bush is right to continue to make Iraq an issue for the international community. We will need international support if we are going to have an effective strategy for eliminating Saddam Hussein as a threat to world peace.
