Now that Iraq has made a lengthy declaration on its weapons' programmes, the burden is on the US to prove that Baghdad is lying, Khaled Dawoud reports from Washington US hesitance to release intelligence information that would put to paid Iraq's claims that it does not have any weapons of mass destruction led many observers to believe that Washington might not actually have much to make public. Since US President George W Bush decided to make going to war against Iraq a top priority, and linked it to his so-called wider war against terrorism, American officials have insisted that Iraq does possess weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). When asked by other countries to "show us the evidence", the standard reply has been that to release information would jeopardise intelligence sources. Washington's eagerness on Monday to obtain Iraq's 12,000-page declaration of its weapons programmes -- in defiance of an earlier agreement with other United Nations Security Council members to wait until UN inspectors review the report -- raises further questions about just how much Bush's administration really knows. The Security Council had wanted to delay release of the Iraqi document until it had been reviewed by UN weapons inspectors, scanning it for information that would point to knowledge about making nuclear, biological or chemical weapons. However, in a surprise move on Sunday, an arrangement was suddenly made to hand over the voluminous document to the United States, which is making copies for the four other permanent Security Council members. Britain and France received copies late on Monday and Washington said it would deliver copies to Russia and China on Tuesday. The key star in this US-led effort was Colombian ambassador to the United Nations, Alfonso Valdivieso, whose country chairs the Security Council for the month of December. Valdivieso said he made the decision to allow the US to have first peek at the declaration late on Sunday after weekend telephone consultations with all council members and chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix. He said the process started when US Ambassador to the UN John Negroponte called him on Saturday morning, saying he wanted to alter the previous understanding. Valdivieso called members, and "we did it," he said. Meanwhile, US officials said they offered to photocopy the huge document because such facilities were not available to Colombia. US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who reportedly played a role in calling key figures who were hesitating to accept the deal, concluded a visit to Colombia on Monday, and officials from both countries agreed that US military assistance would be given to the Colombian government. During a closed-door council meeting on Monday, Syrian Ambassador Mikhail Wehbe angrily attacked the decision, complaining that Valdivieso had acted without the backing of the full council and in violation of the 8 November resolution, 1441, ordering Baghdad to prepare the weapons report, diplomats said. The resolution stated that UN weapons inspectors were responsible for reviewing the Iraqi declaration and informing the rest of the Security Council members of their findings. But the US's behind-the-scenes lobbying at the Security Council was not the only example of the Bush administration's extreme eagerness to find evidence to prove that Baghdad has been lying. Appeals by Bush and senior US officials to Iraqi scientists to defect and reveal all about their alleged secret weapons' programmes have been taken as further indication that the information possessed by US intelligence bodies may not be so firm or up-to-date. Senior US officials concede in private that their main hope to make a solid case that justifies going to war against Iraq would be the defection of a senior Iraqi official, scientist or engineer who could provide vital information in defiance of Iraq's claims. Americans seem to be hoping for such a move by an official of the rank of the Iraqi president's son-in-law, Hussein Kamel, who defected to Jordan in 1995 and revealed extremely sensitive information to UN inspectors at a time when the international body was reportedly close to declaring that its mission in Iraq was nearing completion. Failure to provide solid evidence to back US claims on Iraq's weapons' programmes was criticised by countries throughout the world, UN inspectors, and even by lawmakers here. A group of Democrat Congressmen challenged the Bush administration to prove its assertions by releasing intelligence showing that Iraq still has WMDs. "If the administration has evidence that counters the Iraqi disclosures, they should provide such evidence to the United Nations," said Representative Dennis Kucinich, an Ohio Democrat. "The administration does not do well if it bypasses the United Nations and prepares to engage in war no matter what the UN findings," he added. "We still have not given the American people the proof that war is necessary," said Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, a Democrat from Texas. Facing this mounting pressure, the Bush administration said it was willing to share information with UN inspectors, but still had to decide how much to reveal. "We're helping the inspectors in every way we can," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said. "I don't know how we will handle it if we start seeing omissions and errors in the Iraqi submission. Whether we'll point those out to the inspectors, to the Security Council or to others; we'll see." Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Bob Graham said he didn't believe the United States had provided much information to the inspectors. "I don't know why we're being reticent. It may be that we feel that if we make too much of our intelligence information available early, it will give Saddam Hussein some clues to how we got that information which he then could use to better hide, disguise what he has," said Graham, D- Florida. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, meanwhile, has approved a list of surveillance equipment that the Pentagon "would look favourably on" if requested by inspectors, a senior Defense Department official said on condition of anonymity. The United States provided surveillance planes and other help to the previous UN weapons teams that scoured Iraq from 1991 to 1998. And while the debate on intelligence information rages on, the Bush administration was business-as-usual with respect to preparing for the war against Iraq. Major US war games started in Qatar on Monday, and top US commanders, led by General Tommy Franks, reviewed scenarios for strikes on Iraq, Pentagon officials said. No troops were involved in the war games, which were mainly aimed at testing the extremely advanced command and control communication system the Americans moved to Qatar at Al- Odaid airbase. President Bush was also taking additional steps to galvanise support against Iraq, and hosted a significant visit on Tuesday by Turkey's new political leader, Tayyip Erdogan, whose political party known for its Islamist leanings swept recent parliament elections. A year ago, US officials snubbed Erdogan, and not a single administration member agreed to meet him. At that time, Erdogan's party voted against sending Turkish troops to Afghanistan to help in the US- led war against the Taliban. Bush hopes the new Turkish leader would accept US plans to post troops in Turkey to lead an offensive against Iraq from the north. The Bush administration also summarily dismissed Saddam's "apology" to the Kuwaiti people on Saturday. "It's 11 years too late. Lives were taken," Fleischer said. But other US officials, like their Kuwaiti counterparts, were angered by Saddam's calls for the Kuwaiti people to rebel against their government, and his dubbing the presence of thousands of US troops there an occupation.
