NATO HQ, Brussels 6 June 2002

Remarks by US Secretary of State, Donald Rumsfeld at the Defence Ministers Meeting of the North Atlantic Council Slide 1 Taking Decisions Based on Imperfect Information Consistently underestimated the terrorist, WMD, and missile threat. Must recognize we do not know everything. Absolute proof cannot be precondition for action. Live in world with little or no warning. Little margin for error Initiative is with terrorists, terrorist-states. Catastrophic consequences of WMD attack. Points Made WMD proliferation pervasive. Inevitable access to these capabilities. Facts are not debatable. Can differ on many things, but not on facts. Real situation worse than what facts show. Repeatedly thought "X" was the case, only to discover we underestimated. Only surprise is that we are still surprised when this happens. Slide 2 NATO Members Have Opportunity After September 11, U.S. now asking itself the tough questions: What did we know, and when? What could we have done? What can we do to stop further attacks? NATO members have opportunity to ask same questions, before an attack in Europe. What should NATO countries be doing today, with possibility that an attack could occur at any time? Points Made We are all on notice. Attack will happen. Just question of when, where, and how. Could happen tomorrow, or years from now. If we know attack is going to happen, what can we start doing today to prevent it, or mitigate its effects? Slide 3 We're On Notice Do we maintain old approach to doing business that was designed for different security environment, or do we adapt? Are we currently bringing all elements of national power to bear to solve this problem? Our nation has been attacked. Will we adjust to new reality? Must be preventative. Need to go on offense. Need to take the initiative away from the terrorists, and terror-states. Slide 4 Next Steps Need broad factual recognition of WMD threat. Pool knowledge on terrorist/WMD threats. Work with Ministers to brief key officials in capitals: Heads of State, Finance Ministries, Foreign Ministries, Intelligence Services, Health Ministries and First Responders, Parliaments, Others? NATO might develop threat assessment, and launch campaign to raise awareness of terrorist/WMD threat. These are the next steps that we, as Defense Ministers, should take. We need to build awareness of the threat, and the urgent need for action. This needs to happen both in capitals, and with the general public. Once we have consensus on the facts, and on the urgency of problem, we need to turn all elements of our national power to bear on solving problem.