“In his speech [on June 12, 2000], Saddam said emphatically, ‘If the world tells us to abandon all our weapons and keep only swords, we will do that. We will destroy all the weapons, if they destroy their weapons. But if they keep a rifle and then tell me that I have the right to possess only a sword, then we would say no. As long as the rifle has become a means to defend our country against anybody who may have designs against it, then we will try our best to acquire the rifle.’ ”
– Charles Duelfer, Hide and Seek, Page 406