Weapons of mass destruction aren't pulled out of a black hat like a white rabbit at a magic show. They're produced in factories. There's science and technology involved. They're not produced in a hole in the ground or in a basement.

Indeed the whole human species is endangered by nuclear weapons or by other means of wholesale destruction which further advances in science are likely to produce.

Science has produced such powerful weapons that in a war between great powers there would be neither victor nor vanquished. Both would be overwhelmed in destruction.

Putin has a lot at stake here and restoring the relationship with the United States and there are already signs as Sandy mentioned that he's moving in the right direction to begin to ascertain that their trade with Iran is not used for the production of nuclear weapons.

In the case of Iraq notwithstanding the violence there at the moment the very fact that a hideous regime - responsible for genocide for the use of chemical and biological weapons aggression against two neighbors - has been removed in itself is a positive development.

The same people who are murdered slowly in the mechanized slaughterhouses of work are also arguing singing drinking dancing making love holding the streets picking up weapons and inventing a new poetry.

The struggle to get weapons is continuous but the United States will aid us if it finds Israel displaying a willingness for peace.

Several studies and a number of public statements by senior military and political personalities testify that - except for disputes between the present nuclear states - all military conflicts as well as threats to peace can be dealt with using conventional weapons.

The central premise behind Oslo was that if Arafat were given enough legitimacy territory weapons and money he would use his power to fight terror and make peace with Israel.

If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force our purpose is clear. We want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program.

When I was in the White House I was confronted with the challenge of the Cold War. Both the Soviet Union and I had 30 000 nuclear weapons that could destroy the entire earth and I had to maintain the peace.

We cannot be both the world's leading champion of peace and the world's leading supplier of the weapons of war.

I can tell you one thing Iran is closer to developing nuclear weapons today than it was a week ago or a month ago or a year ago. It's just moving on with its efforts.

Hussein has chosen to spend his money on building weapons of mass destruction and palaces for his cronies.

Wars may be fought with weapons but they are won by men. It is the spirit of men who follow and of the man who leads that gains the victory.

All mankind is now learning that these nuclear weapons can only serve to destroy never become beneficial.

I found it peculiar that those who wanted to take military action could - with 100 per cent certainty - know that the weapons existed and turn out to have zero knowledge of where they were.

They have involved co-operation between the Iraqi intelligence and al-Qaeda operatives on training and combined operations regarding bomb making and chemical and biological weapons.

If men can develop weapons that are so terrifying as to make the thought of global war include almost a sentence for suicide you would think that man's intelligence and his comprehension... would include also his ability to find a peaceful solution.

To put up a show is to face life's injustices with one of the few weapons available to a desperate and brave people their imagination.

At a time when unbridled greed malignant aggression and existence of weapons of mass destruction threatens the survival of humanity we should seriously consider any avenue that offers some hope.

Today I can declare my hope and declare it from the bottom of my heart that we will eventually see the time when that number of nuclear weapons is down to zero and the world is a much better place.

In the holy city of Mecca violence of any kind was forbidden. From the moment they left home pilgrims were not permitted to carry weapons to swat an insect or speak an angry word a discipline that introduced them to a new way of living.

A world without nuclear weapons would be less stable and more dangerous for all of us.