Warsaw and London presented with damming evidence against Iraq

Proof that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction were presented yesterday to the British Parliament by Premier Tony Blair and in Warsaw by U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Deputy CIA director John McLaughlin. The aim was to muster international support for action against Saddam Hussein. According to NATO General Secretary Lord George Robertson the evidence presented, "Has impressed everyone and the reaction was very, very serious". Lord Robertson and Polish Defense Minister (MON) Jerzy Szmajdzinski stated that NATO Ministers had not discussed a possible attack on Iraq. The Ministers agreed to create rapid deployment forces, but France appears skeptical of such a force believing it would weaken the creation of EU joint forces. Unofficial sources claim that France wants the new unit only to be used outside NATO territory if it has the backing of the UN Security Council. The Warsaw meeting had been called to rally NATO unity after German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said during his election campaign that Germany would not take part in military activity against Iraq. (Gazeta Wyborcza, pp. 1, 4) M.M.