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Powell wisecracks about Saddam
NEW YORK (CNN) -- In the midst of the ongoing debate over the Middle East and new revelations about North Korea, Secretary of State Colin Powell joked Thursday night at the expense of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and his nation. Powell's jibes came at the annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation dinner, a fund-raiser for Catholic hospitals. The dinner has a long tradition of political humor and attracts a who's who of New York and national politicians. "This is election season. They're even having elections in Iraq. Saddam Hussein won," Powell deadpanned. "In Iraq they don't have hanging chads, they just have hangings," he said. Turning serious, Powell said: "We need a tough new resolution to allow inspectors authority to do their jobs and to disarm Iraq. "It is not up to Iraq to dictate the conditions to the United Nations, but for the United Nations to dictate the conditions to Iraq," Powell said. "If the United Nations does not act, then the United States, joined by other willing nations, must act. " Powell also warned about the growing danger of North Korea, which has admitted it has a secret nuclear weapons program. "September 11 showed us that threats gathering in distant places like Afghanistan, North Korea and Iraq pose very clear and present dangers," he said. North Korea acknowledged to U.S. officials earlier this month that it has a secret and active nuclear weapons program that began years after a 1994 agreement to abandon its efforts to develop them. -- CNN Producer Maureen Madden contributed to this story.
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