“Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser, said ‘there isn’t any sense of timing’ about when to force the [UN weapons] inspection issue with Iraq. ‘Right now, getting Al Qaeda is more important,’ she said, referring to the campaign to destroy Osama bin Laden’s terrorist network. ‘The fact is that we have Iraq on the radar screen,’ Ms. Rice said. ‘it was dangerous before Sept. 11 and it’s dangerous now. But we are really very focused right now on phase I, on Afghanistan, and worrying about Al Qaeda cells wherever they might be.’ ”
– Patrick E. Tyler and David E. Sanger, “U.S. To Press Iraq to Let U.N. Search For Banned Arms,” The New York Times, Dec. 1, 2001