WASHINGTON, September 18 (IslamOnline & New Agencies) - Protesters chanting "Inspections, not war" disrupted U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's opening remarks Wednesday, September 18, at a congressional hearing on Iraq.

The protest erupted as Rumsfeld was beginning his prepared statement before the House Armed Services Committee, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

His testimony was interrupted by the protesters who gathered at the rear of the hearing room, chanting "Inspections, not war" repeatedly, as the secretary and committee members listened, the British newspaper, the Independent, reported.

"The question facing us is this: what is a responsible course of action for our country?" Rumsfeld asked. "Do we believe it is responsibility to wait for a weapons of destruction 9/11, or is it the responsibility of free people to do something, to take steps to deal with such a threat before such an attack has occurred."

A women rose to her feet in the audience and said: "Yes, Mr. Rumsfeld, I think we need weapons inspections not war."

Another woman joined her unfurling a banner that said "U.N. inspection not war," and they chanted "Inspections, not war" until being escorted from the hearing room, said AFP.

"As I listened to those comments, it struck me what a wonderful thing free speech is," Rumsfeld cynically observed.

His testimony came shortly after U.S. President George W. Bush downplayed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s acquiescence to the return of weapons inspectors, saying Saddam is "not going to fool anybody" with his promise to admit weapons inspectors and predicting that the United Nations will rally behind his Iraq policy despite signs of unease.

"Only certainty of U.S. and U.N. purposefulness can have even the prospect of affecting the Iraqi regime. It is important that Congress send that message as soon as possible - before the U.N. Security Council votes."

Bush accused 12-year-sanction-hit Iraq of allegedly having stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons and of trying to get enough weapons-grade material to build a nuclear bomb: "The last thing we want is a smoking gun. A gun smokes after it has been fired. The goal must be to stop Saddam Hussein before he fires a weapon of mass destruction against our people."