The case against Iraq grows stronger

Last week, the world learned what has been known or suspected about Iraq's secret weapons for a long time. It was these suspicions that motivated the U.N. Security Council to adopt Resolution 1441, which calls not just for inspections in Iraq, but for complete cooperation and disclosure from the Iraqis regarding their past and current weapons programs.

Saddam Hussein would have us believe that Iraq is cooperating. He would have us believe that the U.N. inspectors have so far failed to find any damning evidence of weapons of mass destruction. He would have us believe that Iraq will abide by the dictates of Resolution 1441. Saddam Hussein would have us believe that Iraq is no threat to its Mideastern neighbors, the world at large or even its own people, who have suffered unimaginable horrors at the hands of this madman.

It is regrettable that anti-war protesters in the United States and elsewhere around the world have chosen to accept the word of Saddam Hussein over more reasonable voices. President Bush and others in his administration, with the advantage of top-secret intelligence, say Iraq continues to pose a threat to the world. Eight heads of government in Europe, in a show of unity, say "the Iraqi regime and its weapons of mass destruction represent a clear threat to world security." (A letter from the eight European leaders to The Times of London is reprinted below.) And the United Nations' own weapons inspector, Hans Blix, says that Iraq continues to be uncooperative and is playing a high-stakes game of hide-and-seek with deadly chemicals and toxins.

The U.N. inspections report from Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the U.N. nuclear control agency, only amplifies the fears that have lingered for so long. In Blix's view, Iraq is conducting a complex shell game by moving evidence around as inspectors seek explanations for missing documentation. ElBaradei says there is no evidence so far that Iraq has resumed its nuclear-weapons program -- but he wants more time to make sure.

President Bush provided even more details of the Iraqi deceptions in his State of the Union address:

Saddam Hussein has not accounted for up to 25,000 liters of anthrax, 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin, 500 tons of sarin, mustard gas and VX nerve agent and more than 30,000 munitions capable of delivering chemical weapons.

Saddam Hussein recently -- apparently as he was reassuring the Security Council and the rest of the world that he was complying with every U.N. demand -- tried to obtain uranium from Africa.

Iraqi defectors say several mobile biological weapons labs from the 1990s can no longer be accounted for.

This week, Secretary of State Colin Powell will present a more detailed overview of Iraq's continued failure to live up to the United Nations' expectations. But even without more convincing evidence, Saddam Hussein has already demonstrated the necessity for whatever actions are needed to remove him from power. His unbroken record of thwarting all official efforts to contain his misguided deeds did not start 60 days ago when U.N. inspections resumed. His misdeeds span at least two decades of violence, corruption and threats.

Those who continue to say Saddam Hussein deserves another chance are choosing, for whatever reasons, to ignore all the times he has decided to toss self-preserving opportunities onto the ever-growing heap of broken promises.

Those who claim the world is divided on military action to remove Saddam Hussein from power should carefully read the letter below and then see if they can still make a case that negates the powerful and unflinching allegations from the leaders of the most democratic nations of Europe.

Those who fear the loss of lives -- either military or civilian -- that would result from an invasion of Iraq should study the history of America's efforts to preserve its democracy and, as stated below, set Europe free from "the two forms of tyranny that devastated our continent in the 20th century: Nazism and Communism."

Cleaning up the mess in Iraq will not be the end of the world's worries about despots and weapons of mass destruction. But it will remove the most malignant tumor of a cancer that threatens the lives of those who believe in freedom.