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Powell: Iraq declaration has 'problems'
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Secretary of State Colin Powell has become the first senior Bush administration official to say publicly that "there are problems" with Iraq's declaration to the United Nations about its weapons programs. Powell said on Monday a final U.S. analysis of the document should be completed by the end of this week. White House officials said the administration is preparing an assessment for the U.N. Security Council but said they were aware of no plans to release a public analysis. At a news conference in Washington, Powell said: "We said at the very beginning that we approached it with skepticism, and the information I have received so far is that skepticism is well-founded. There are problems with the declaration. "We are sharing the problems we see with UNMOVIC and IAEA," he said, referring to the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission and International Atomic Energy Agency, "and we're in discussions with the permanent members of the Security Council. We will withhold making a final judgment statement until we have completed our analysis." Powell said that President Bush and other world leaders remain hopeful that the situation will be resolved peacefully. But if Iraq is deemed in violation of a U.N. resolution, "then I believe the international community has an obligation to act," Powell said, adding that its actions could include military force. Chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix is slated to make a presentation Thursday to the Security Council evaluating the Iraqis' nearly 12,000-page response, Powell told reporters. A preliminary U.S. analysis provided to the inspectors said that the United States believes Iraq fell far short of the requirement for a full accounting of its chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs, according to several Bush administration officials. But the White House has consistently declined to discuss the U.S. assessment publicly. Press secretary Ari Fleischer has repeatedly -- and again at his briefing Monday -- refused to offer any preliminary analysis or to commit to a deadline for any final analysis. After Powell made his remarks, a White House official familiar with national security concerns said he was aware of no administration plans for a presidential speech or other public assessment of the Iraqi filing. But the official said the administration was preparing a detailed report to the Security Council for this week. The official said it was unclear to him whether that report would be a written analysis or an oral assessment. CNN Senior White House Correspondent John King contributed to this report.
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