Stewart Stogel
Friday October 3, 2003

Ironically, the last of over 190 speakers to address the forum was Iraq.

Ahmad Chalabi, the former head of the exile Iraqi National Congress and now a member of the U.S. appointed Governing Council, gave the Iraqi address to the United Nations forum.

More than half of the General Assembly's members boycotted the Iraqi address, including most of the Arab states.

The U.S. was represented by its deputy U.N. ambassador James Cunningham.

Throughout the address (mostly delivered in Arabic), the English translator often stumbled. Many Arab diplomats quipped the "problem" was due to the fact that Chalabi's speech was originally written in English and then translated to Arabic, a reference to the belief that the address was written in Washington.

The speech, which ran slightly more than 10 minutes, chided many U.N. members for their past support of Saddam Hussein. It also invited many of the current critics of developments in Iraq to come and actually see what is going on.

To the U.N. members, Chalabi said:

"Very few spoke the truth and embraced it. Very few tuned to the catastrophe of this fellow human being and declared he was a victim. To our calls we heard nothing. So the Iraqi remained lost and persecuted twice over, first from the injustice of the sword with which the dictatorial regime attacked him at home, and then from the injustice of the criticism (or lack of), a more painful affliction, form those outside."

He invited the current critics of events in Iraq to visit the country:

"We invite you to come and visit the mass graves where half a million of our citizens lie, come and visit the dried up marshes, come and visit Halabja where chemicals were dropped on civilians, come and examine the lists of the disappeared, whose right to live was taken away by Saddam Hussein."

Chalabi insisted that despite hardships, the Governing Council is committed to continue on its current course to rebuild the country.

"We are here today to declare that a new Iraq is born. An Iraq where dignity, justice and human rights are assured for all citizens. An Iraq at peace with its people, its neighbors and the world. An Iraq that stands ready to regain its rightful place in the international community of free and proud nations."

The closing remarks, delivered in English, brought some muted applause from the audience.

Afterwards, Chalabi quickly left the U.N. compound, pointedly avoiding waiting reporters. No explanation for the quick departure was offered by Iraqi diplomats.

Meanwhile, as the Iraqi spoke, the CIA released some details of the latest findings of its search for weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in the Gulf state.

As expected, mission leader David Kay told members of Congress that his team has yet to find any evidence of hidden WMD, though much work still remains.

Privately, U.N. arms inspectors tell NewsMax that they feel the likelihood Kay and his team will find any WMD is "low."

Shortly after Kay's testimony on the Hill, the U.N. inspectors hastily convened a private meeting at NYC headquarters.

One inspector told NewsMax that though the U.N. does not believe it will be given permission to resume its own investigations, it is in fact gearing up to "assist" the U.S. in "verifying" whatever findings the Kay team does come up with.

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