SADDAM DENIES PURSUING 'NUCULAR' WEAPONS
No Evidence of Nucular Program in Iraq, Strongman Says
Responding to last night's State of the Union Address in which President George W. Bush repeatedly accused him of attempting to acquire "nucular" weapons, President Saddam Hussein of Iraq today categorically denied having a "nucular" weapons program of any kind.
"Iraq does not now nor has it ever had a 'nucular' weapons program," Saddam said in a terse official statement. "Nor does it have any idea what a 'nucular' weapon is."
At the White House, press secretary Ari Fleischer accused Saddam of using Mr. Bush's pronunciation of "nucular" to distract attention from Iraq's persistent refusal to disarm.
"I think the international community knows that when the President says 'nucular' he means 'nuclear,'" Mr. Fleischer said. "We challenge Saddam to prove that he does not have any of the weapons that President Bush may have mispronounced last night."
Mr. Bush's State of the Union Address drew support from an unlikely quarter today, as Nobel Peace Prize winner Jimmy Carter announced that he "completely agreed" with the President's pronunciation of the word "nucular."
"Back when I was President, I often gave speeches about nucular energy, and everybody always knew what I was talking about," Mr. Carter said. "I think people should back off."
In other international pronunciation news, Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain split with President Bush today over his pronunciation of the words tomato and banana.
While Mr. Blair indicated that he and Mr. Bush had "a serious difference of opinion" about how tomato and banana were pronounced, he said it would in no way affect Britain's support of a U.S.-led attack on Iraq.