WORLD NEWS

January 9, 2003

U.N. Gets an Iraq Update

So far, inspectors have found no weapons of mass destruction but say they need more cooperation from Iraqis

For two months, weapons inspectors working for the United Nations have been searching Iraq for illegal weapons. On Thursday, U.N. Chief Weapons Inspector Hans Blix said his team has so far not found evidence that Iraq is hiding weapons of mass destruction. But Mohammed ElBaradei, who is in charge of nuclear weapons inspections in Iraq, said it is still too early to tell whether Iraq is trying to build them. Both men said they need more cooperation from Iraq during their search for illegal weapons.

The Search for Weapons of Mass Destruction

Since November 25, weapons inspectors have been searching Iraq for nuclear, chemical and germ weapons. Such weapons have the power to kill thousands of people at once. Blix and ElBaradei visited the U.N. in New York to update reporters and U.N. officials about the situation in Iraq.

In December, Iraq turned in a 12,000-page report about its weapons program but Blix said it was incomplete. "We think that (it) failed to answer a great many questions," he said. The White House in December claimed it had information that Iraq is lying about its weapons. On Wednesday, Secretary of State Colin Powell told The Washington Post newspaper that the U.S. has started giving inspectors more detailed "intelligence," or information, to help guide their search for illegal weapons.

Preparing For A Possible War

The inspectors' work is very important because if the U.N. discovers that Iraq is hiding illegal weapons, the U.S. may declare war on Iraq. This week, U.S. Army troops from a military base in Georgia have been arriving at a military base in Kuwait, a nation that neighbors Iraq. The U.S. military plans to bring all 17,000 troops stationed there to the Iraq region. On Wednesday, Great Britain, America's strongest ally, called up 1,500 reserve troops to join active troops in the event of a war.

A Big Threat to the Iraqi People

If war erupts, the effects would be devastating to the Iraqi people. Relief organizations pushing for peace say that water and food would quickly be in very short supply after an attack. Most Iraqis depend in part on government rations of flour, milk, bread and other basic food.

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