On December 19, 2002, Secretary of State Colin “Powell pressed ahead with his own harsh public assessment of Saddam’s deception of the world community and tepid cooperation with the [weapons] inspectors. ‘The world is still waiting for Iraq to comply with its obligations,’ he told reporters. ‘The world will not wait forever…Iraq can no longer be allowed to threaten its people and its region with weapons of mass destruction.’ ”
– Karen DeYoung, Soldier: The Life of Colin Powell, Pages 423-424