Good or bad, U.S. intentions have a heavy impact.

The President felt a need for a statement of U.S. intentions in the initiative.

The oil resources of the country remained a British monopoly, though the British were wary of U.S. intentions.

"His speech will be very reassuring to Europeans as to U.S. intentions," said a senior State Department official.

"Verifiable nuclear dismantling reflects a U.S. intention to spy on our military capabilities before starting a war," it also said.

But the warnings also sent the wrong signal to Iraq's neighbors about U.S. intentions.

"It's been clearly stated what the U.S. intention is," he said, "and that is to provide defense against missiles from a rogue nation."

And for those who are cynical about U.S. intentions, no amount of proof is enough.

Washington officials may assume everybody knows about U.S. good intentions.

Iraqis I've interviewed are often suspicious of U.S. intentions ("You're planning to steal our oil!")