SCHAKOWSKY: BUSH ADMINISTRATIONS MISSTATEMENT OF THE DAY IRAQI THREAT

SEPTEMBER 24, 2003

SCHAKOWSKY: BUSH ADMINISTRATION'S MISSTATEMENT OF THE DAY -
IRAQI THREAT

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Chief Deputy Whip, issued today's "Bush Administration's Misstatement of the Day" on the threat posed by Iraq.

During his address before the United Nations on Tuesday, September 23, 2003, President Bush said:

"The regime of Saddam Hussein cultivated ties to terror while it built weapons of mass destruction. It used those weapons in acts of mass murder and refused to account for them when confronted by the world." (President Bush's Address to the UN)

However, Secretary of State Colin Powell said on February 24, 2001,

"Frankly, [sanctions] have worked. [Saddam] has not developed any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction. He is unable to project conventional power against his neighbors." ( Press Remarks with Foreign Minister of Egypt Amre Moussa, Secretary Colin L. Powell, Cairo, Egypt (Ittihadiya Palace) February 24, 2001