Powell’s Powerful UN Speech Evokes Varied Reactions Articles / In The News Date: Feb 09, 2003 - 02:05 PM Click here to join us in posting a prayer for this nation WASHINGTON, D.C. — Almost everyone agrees that Colin Powell presented a very persuasive case against Iraq to the United Nations, including many Democrats here in the U.S. While some anti-war holdouts like France still want to keep giving UN inspectors more time, Powell says time is running out. Before his UN presentation about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and attempts to hide them, the Secretary of State said he would show no "smoking gun." But then he went on to provide some pretty strong evidence that Iraq is not disarming. Click read more for more.. He played communications intercepts of Iraqi officials plotting to hide weapons and deceive UN inspectors. He talked of Iraqi defectors' thorough descriptions of at least 18 still-missing mobile bio-weapons labs. He showed video of an Iraqi combat jet practicing to spray deadly chemical weapons. He showed satellite photos of Iraqis sweeping into suspected chemical weapons plants, emptying them out and even removing the topsoil. Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) said, "If ever there was a smoking gun that showed not only an inability to disarm, or to be forthcoming, this very clearly showed deception and deceit on the part of Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi government." When Israel's Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was asked if Powell produced a smoking gun, he replied, "One gun? I saw many." Netanyahu continued, "The speech was a thorough and powerful indictment of Saddam's attempts to conceal and deceive." But Iraq's UN ambassador shot back saying Powell's pronouncements were "utterly unrelated to the truth." Iraqi presidential adviser Lt. Gen. Amir al-Saadi said, "This was a typical American show, complete with stunts and special effects." The cynical French shrugged off Powell's charges. French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said, "There is no absolute proof in these matters, there's no surprise." Sen. Ted Kennedy, one of the U.S. Senate's main opponents of armed action against Iraq, said, "Secretary Powell made a very strong case at the Security Council today, but, in fact, he didn't tell us anything we didn't already know." U.S. Marines who will likely fight the war to topple Saddam watched the speech and gave thumbs-up. One Marine said, "Everybody now, I hope, has a better understanding of what is going on with what he said." Another Marine said, "I think it was thorough, I definitely have confidence with everyone that is in Washington." And not every Democrat senator sides with liberal pacifist Kennedy. Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) declared it is time for action. "What the United Nations commands, it must enforce, or the judgements of the United Nations and the indispensable leadership of the United States will lose their force," Lieberman said. Now the top UN inspectors go to Baghdad this weekend, and next Friday they report back to the UN. And that may be the last action the UN gets to take before the U.S. itself decides to act. Meanwhile, 10 more countries in Eastern Europe are now supporting the U.S. against Iraq as well. The 10 countries are from the former Soviet Union. The majority of European nations now support the U.S. against Iraq. That leaves France and Germany isolated in a small minority of opposition. This article comes from World's Largest Prayer Board Annointed.net News http://www.annointed.net/ The URL for this story is: http://www.annointed.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=390