February 5, 2003
Secretary of State Colin Powel Makes Speech to the United Nations
On February 5, 2003, the Secretary of State, Colin Powell gave a speech which was directed to the United Nations. This speech was intended to get multinational authorization for an invasion. He says in the speech that Iraq was creating chemical and biological weapons. These accusations were meant to persuade the United Nations to help the United States. Powell also says that Iraq has connections to al-Quiada. Powell used the the CIA Director George Tenant to help him build his case against Iraq. He wanted to make sure that everyone knew Iraq was not a friend to the United States. Together, Powell and Tenant put together videos, satellite pictures, and audio recording which all suggested that Iraq was guilty of having chemical weapons and listening in to American military conversations. In audio clips he showed, you can hear that military leaders communicating with their workers are afraid someone else is listening in on their conversation. In a satellite image, you can see some buildings which Powell and Tenant believe are chemical weapons bunkers. Some of the bunkers have active weapons. But when the bunkers were inspected by United States inspectors, they were free of weapos. This lead him to believe that the weapons were located in trucks. He also showed designs for Iraq's unmanned drones, which are believed to be dangerous. He makes it clear that even if he does not win over the United Nations now, America is still willing to go to war without the support of the United Nations.
Secretary of State Colin Powel Makes Speech to the United Nations
On February 5, 2003, the Secretary of State, Colin Powell gave a speech which was directed to the United Nations. This speech was intended to get multinational authorization for an invasion. He says in the speech that Iraq was creating chemical and biological weapons. These accusations were meant to persuade the United Nations to help the United States. Powell also says that Iraq has connections to al-Quiada. Powell used the the CIA Director George Tenant to help him build his case against Iraq. He wanted to make sure that everyone knew Iraq was not a friend to the United States. Together, Powell and Tenant put together videos, satellite pictures, and audio recording which all suggested that Iraq was guilty of having chemical weapons and listening in to American military conversations. In audio clips he showed, you can hear that military leaders communicating with their workers are afraid someone else is listening in on their conversation. In a satellite image, you can see some buildings which Powell and Tenant believe are chemical weapons bunkers. Some of the bunkers have active weapons. But when the bunkers were inspected by United States inspectors, they were free of weapos. This lead him to believe that the weapons were located in trucks. He also showed designs for Iraq's unmanned drones, which are believed to be dangerous. He makes it clear that even if he does not win over the United Nations now, America is still willing to go to war without the support of the United Nations.