20 years ago:

26 August 2002     US Vice-President Dick Cheney outlines his country's policy on the so-called "war on terror" and its connection with the situation in Iraq.[1] In a lengthy speech, he says: "Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction". He is speaking in Nashville at a meeting of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
     On the prospect of terrorists acquiring weapons of mass destruction, he says: "old doctrines of security do not apply. In the days of the Cold War, we were able to manage the threat with strategies of deterrence and containment. But it's a lot tougher to deter enemies who have no country to defend. And containment is not possible when dictators obtain weapons of mass destruction, and are prepared to share them with terrorists who intend to inflict catastrophic casualties on the United States. The case of Saddam Hussein, a sworn enemy of our country, requires a candid appraisal of the facts. After his defeat in the Gulf War in 1991, Saddam agreed under U.N. Security Council Resolution 687 to cease all development of weapons of mass destruction. He agreed to end his nuclear weapons program. He agreed to destroy his chemical and his biological weapons. He further agreed to admit U.N. inspection teams into his country to ensure that he was in fact complying with these terms. In the past decade, Saddam has systematically broken each of these agreements. The Iraqi regime has in fact been very busy enhancing its capabilities in the field of chemical and biological agents. And they continue to pursue the nuclear program they began so many years ago. These are not weapons for the purpose of defending Iraq; these are offensive weapons for the purpose of inflicting death on a massive scale, developed so that Saddam can hold the threat over the head of anyone he chooses, in his own region or beyond".
     Having stated a belief that Iraq has resumed its efforts to acquire nuclear weapons, he says: "Just how soon, we cannot really gauge. Intelligence is an uncertain business, even in the best of circumstances. This is especially the case when you are dealing with a totalitarian regime that has made a science out of deceiving the international community. Saddam also devised an elaborate program to conceal his active efforts to build chemical and biological weapons. And one must keep in mind the history of U.N. inspection teams in Iraq. Even as they were conducting the most intrusive system of arms control in history, the inspectors missed a great deal. Before being barred from the country, the inspectors found and destroyed thousands of chemical weapons, and hundreds of tons of mustard gas and other nerve agents. Yet Saddam Hussein had sought to frustrate and deceive them at every turn, and was often successful in doing so. ... Saddam has perfected the game of cheat and retreat, and is very skilled in the art of denial and deception. A return of inspectors would provide no assurance whatsoever of his compliance with U.N. resolutions. On the contrary, there is a great danger that it would provide false comfort that Saddam was somehow "back in his box". ... Nothing in the last dozen years has stopped him — not his agreements; not the discoveries of the inspectors; not the revelations by defectors; not criticism or ostracism by the international community; and not four days of bombings by the U.S. in 1998. What he wants is time and more time to husband his resources, to invest in his ongoing chemical and biological weapons programs, and to gain possession of nuclear arms. ..."
     "Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. There is no doubt he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our allies, and against us. And there is no doubt that his aggressive regional ambitions will lead him into future confrontations with his neighbors — confrontations that will involve both the weapons he has today, and the ones he will continue to develop with his oil wealth. Ladies and gentlemen, there is no basis in Saddam Hussein's conduct or history to discount any of the concerns that I am raising this morning. We are, after all, dealing with the same dictator ... who has been on the State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism for the better part of two decades".
     "... As President Bush has said, time is not on our side. Deliverable weapons of mass destruction in the hands of a terror network, or a murderous dictator, or the two working together, constitutes as grave a threat as can be imagined. ..."
     "Regime change in Iraq would bring about a number of benefits to the region. When the gravest of threats are eliminated, the freedom-loving peoples of the region will have a chance to promote the values that can bring lasting peace. As for the reaction of the Arab "street", the Middle East expert Professor Fouad Ajami predicts that after liberation, the streets in Basra and Baghdad are “sure to erupt in joy in the same way the throngs in Kabul greeted the Americans”. Extremists in the region would have to rethink their strategy of Jihad. Moderates throughout the region would take heart. And our ability to advance the Israeli-Palestinian peace process would be enhanced, just as it was following the liberation of Kuwait in 1991. ..."
     "In other times the world saw how the United States defeated fierce enemies, then helped rebuild their countries, forming strong bonds between our peoples and our governments. Today in Afghanistan, the world is seeing that America acts not to conquer but to liberate, and remains in friendship to help the people build a future of stability, self-determination, and peace. We would act in that same spirit after a regime change in Iraq. With our help, a liberated Iraq can be a great nation once again. Iraq is rich in natural resources and human talent, and has unlimited potential for a peaceful, prosperous future. Our goal would be an Iraq that has territorial integrity, a government that is democratic and pluralistic, a nation where the human rights of every ethnic and religious group are recognized and protected. In that troubled land all who seek justice, and dignity, and the chance to live their own lives, can know they have a friend and ally in the United States of America".
     [1] Richard Cheney, US Vice-President, as in: "Vice President Speaks at VFW 103rd National Convention", New Release, White House, 26 August 2002; and "Cheney speech cites threat from Saddam Hussein", Washington File, US Department of State, 26 August 2002.

60 years ago:

1 August 1962     In Odstock Hospital, near Salisbury, in the United Kingdom, Geoffrey Bacon, a senior experimental officer at the Microbiological Research Establishment, Porton Down, dies from pneumonic plague.
     Initially, MRE Director DW Henderson states: "There is no positive reason to suppose that he died of any disease which he contracted through his work with us, but we are carrying out full investigations because all personnel in an establishment of this kind run the risk of being infected with the organisms with which they deal".[1]
     A day later, the War Office adds that Bacon died: "in circumstances which make it possible that death was due to an accidental infection resulting from his work".[2]
     A Board of Inquiry is established which concludes on 13 August.[3] A coroner's inquest is held later in the month. The only witness called is MRE's safety officer, HM Darlow, who states that Bacon had for the previous 12 years been working on the genetics of the plague germ with a view to finding a prevention and a cure. He also states that Bacon received 23 doses of plague vaccine in the previous 11 years. The coroner's court returns a verdict of "misadventure" on 24 August.[4]
     [1] [no author listed], "Inquiry into scientist's death', The Times (London), 3 August 1962, p 10.
     [2] [no author listed], "Death due to plague", The Times (London), 4 August 1962, p 6.
     [3] [no author listed], "Plague investigation completed", The Times (London), 14 August 1962, p 4.
     [4] [no author listed], "Germ death was "misadventure"", The Times (London), 25 August 1962, p 4.

70 years ago:

27 August 1952     In the UN Disarmament Commission, the USSR proposes adding the following into the Commission's Programme of Work: "Consideration of the question of violations of the prohibition of bacterial warfare, the question of the impermissibility of the use of bacterial weapons and the question of calling to account those who violate the prohibition of bacterial warfare". The proposal is promptly put to the vote and and it is rejected by the Commission by nine to one, with two abstaining. The abstentions are Chile and Pakistan.
     [1] Voting details are given in: [no author listed], Documents on Disarmament 1952, US Department of State, 1953, p 381.