Joschka Fischer as Acting Chairman of the U.N. Security Council (February 5, 2003) On February 5, 2003, Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer made his debut as acting chairman of the U.N. Security Council. During this session, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell presented secret intelligence (backed up, inter alia, by wiretap transcripts and satellite photos) on Iraq’s alleged failure to cooperate with U.N. inspectors who were tasked with determining what had happened to the country’s weapons of mass destruction. Powell also claimed that there was a connection between Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaeda. In conjunction with the French proposal to provide the inspectors with better technical equipment and more personnel, Fischer argued that the work of U.N. weapons inspectors should continue and that a diplomatic solution to the conflict with Iraq should be found. The German government demanded the verification of the information presented by Powell, much of which was exposed as faulty or exaggerated after the invasion of Iraq. Photo: Andrea Bienert.