The United States and United Kingdom have dropped plans to circulate a new resolution on Iraq to the U.N. Security Council today.  The decision came as dozens of nations spoke before the council yesterday and today to oppose the use of force against Iraq (see GSN, Feb. 18).

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Negroponte said the United States had not decided whether to go through with an additional resolution, much less when to do it.  British diplomats, however, said they would push hard for Security Council approval of any military action in Iraq.

The two allies had planned to circulate a new draft today, but they still haven’t agreed on its contents, according to diplomats.  Outstanding issues included whether to set a specific deadline for Iraq to meet detailed demands or to issue a more general ultimatum. 

“All options are on the table,” said one U.S. diplomat (Dafna Linzer, Associated Press/Yahoo.com, Feb. 19).

U.S. President George W. Bush said he supported pursuing a second resolution, but its passage was not necessary for the United States to act.

“We don’t need a second resolution.  It’s clear this guy [Iraqi President Saddam Hussein] couldn’t even care less about the first resolution.  He’s in total defiance with [U.N. Security Council Resolution] 1441.  But we’re working with our friends and allies to see if we can get a second resolution,” Bush told reporters yesterday (MacAskill/White, London Guardian, Feb. 19).

U.S. Finds Little Support in Security Council

Speakers at the open Security Council debate yesterday and this morning gave their support to continuing the U.N. weapons inspection regime to ensure Iraq’s disarmament, but also stressed that the burden was on Iraq to fully cooperate with the inspectors. 

Few countries expressed support for the U.S. and British position that there is no point continuing the inspections and that the use of force to disarm Iraq is now necessary.

While there was little support for that view, there was a sense that only Iraq’s “proactive” cooperation with inspectors can prevent the use of force.  “Under the current circumstances and with a devastating war in the offing, it is all the more incumbent upon Iraqi leadership to fully and proactively cooperate with the weapons inspectors,” Iranian Ambassador Javad Zarif said yesterday.

Iran, Jordan, Kuwait and Turkey, which all neighbor Iraq, warned against the regional instability a war would cause and reminded the council that they are still feeling the effects of the first Gulf War in the form of refugees and the economic impact of sanctions.

“The extent of destabilization in the region and uncertainty in Iraq in the case of a war may go far beyond our imagination today,” said Zarif.  “Given the state of the Iraqi society and the whole region, there are so many wild cards and no party could fit them beforehand into its calculations with any degree of certainty.  But one outcome is almost certain:  extremism stands to benefit enormously from an uncalculated adventure in Iraq.”

Turkish Ambassador Umit Pamir said, “We look for a solution that will not require military involvement while reassuring the world that there are no lurking dangers whatsoever of the sort Security Council Resolution 1441 deals with.”  He added, “We should recognize that intense diplomatic efforts backed by a credible force posture still seems to be, especially in this case, the most plausible means to achieve progress.”

Resolution 1441, adopted unanimously in November, set the stage for the return of the inspectors and also warned Iraq of  “serious consequences” — language universally considered code for military action — if it did not cooperate.

Jordanian Ambassador Zeid Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein said the inspections process has “proven an unprecedented efficiency.  It should be continued and enhanced if necessary.”  He also called on Iraq “not to waste the available opportunity and take the initiative by cooperating proactively in the implementation of the relevant Security Council resolutions.”

This public meeting was requested by the Nonaligned Movement to give noncouncil members an opportunity to comment on Friday’s reports by Hans Blix, chairman of the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, and Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency. 

South African Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo, speaking for the coalition of 115 developing countries, said yesterday, “We believe that resorting to war without fully exhausting all other options represents an admission of failure by the Security Council in carrying out its mandate.”

The Blix and ElBaradei reports show “that the inspection process in Iraq is working and that Iraq is showing clear signs of cooperating more proactively with the inspectors,” Kumalo said.  Nothing that has been revealed “thus far would seem to justify the Security Council abandoning the inspection process and immediately resorting to the threatened ‘serious consequences,’“ he added.

U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte said last night outside the council chambers, “We want to be sensitive to international opinion … but in the end, our behavior is going to be determined by our concern about the disarmament of Iraq and considerations of national security of our own country and of others.”

Some Countries Support Issuing A New Security Council Resolution

Only Australia and Japan — and to a lesser extent, Argentina and Peru — supported the U.S. position that continued inspections are futile and that a second resolution is now necessary, but both stopped short of calling for the use of force.  Australian Ambassador John Dauth said, “The Security Council should not wait forever to confront this issue.  Either Iraq has complied or it hasn’t.  The Security Council should move quickly to consider a further resolution that deals decisively with Iraq’s failure to comply with Resolution 1441.”  He added, “We could wait until March … but do we really think more time will make Iraq cooperate?”

Japanese Ambassador Koichi Haraguchi said, “There is serious doubt as to the effectiveness of continued inspections,” adding, “based on the fact that Iraq is not cooperating and not discharging its obligations fully, we consider it desirable that the Security Council adopt a new resolution that clearly demonstrates the determined attitude of the international community.”

Iraq Responds

Iraqi Ambassador Mohammed al-Douri told the Security Council session yesterday that his government has cooperated with inspectors. 

“Reason and wisdom make it incumbent upon us to ask if there is any justification for the U.S. and Britain to launch war against Iraq under the pretext of their concern about Iraq’s possession of weapons of mass destruction, even at a time when Iraq is under an ongoing monitoring and verification system,” said al-Douri.  He added that an invasion “will be evidence of a failure of the international system in its entirety. … This attack will undermine the credibility of the Security Council” (Jim Wurst, Global Security Newswire, Feb. 19).

Missile Dispute Continues

Iraq has not decided whether to destroy its al-Samoud 2 ballistic missiles as requested by UNMOVIC head Blix last week.  An experts’ panel convened by Blix concluded that the missile violated U.N. bans on missiles with ranges greater than 150 kilometers.

Iraq has disputed that conclusion, saying that missile tests that exceeded that range were caused by the test missiles being lighter than their operational versions would be.

A decision on the matter would require additional U.N.-Iraqi discussion.

“It depends on the concrete results (that) might occur between Iraq and UNMOVIC,” said al-Douri (CNN.com, Feb. 19).

Unsuccessful Interviews

Despite hopes that private interviews with Iraqi scientists would uncover new information for U.N. weapons inspectors, not a single such interview has proven successful for UNMOVIC experts, according to U.N. officials.

“There were roughly 30 attempts made to interview Iraqis in private, and three such interviews took place,” U.N. spokesman Hiro Ueki said yesterday.

Each of the three had been recommended by Iraqi and officials and none of the scientists UNMOVIC asked to interview privately has agreed.

“We hope that Iraqi interviewees will eventually accept being interviewed in private under UNMOVIC’s terms,” Ueki said.

IAEA inspectors have had more success by relaxing the interview rules.  The agency allows the interviewees to tape record the interview (John Daniszewski, Los Angeles Times, Feb. 19).

South African Disarmament Assistance

South African President Thabo Mbeki announced yesterday that a team of seven disarmament experts would travel to Iraq by the end of this week, CNN.com reported.

The team includes Deon Smit, who was South Africa’s top liaison with the International Atomic Energy Agency during the country’s disarmament, and Super Moloyi, who recently traveled to Iraq as part of a group pushing peace initiatives.

“Between [the team members] they will be able to address all matters that relate to nuclear, chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction, missile systems, nonproliferation and disarmament,” Mbeki said before a session of parliament in Cape Town (Charlayne Hunter-Gault, CNN.com, Feb. 18).

Inspections

Teams from UNMOVIC and the IAEA visited 13 sites in Iraq yesterday, according to U.N. spokesman Hiro Ueki.

UNMOVIC teams missile teams inspected five sites, including the al-Khadima facility, which handles the final assembly of al-Samoud 2 missiles.  Teams also visited al-Harith, which is involved in missile research and development; al-Qaid, which fills al-Samoud 2 warheads; al-Radwan Factory, which manufactures missile parts and containers; and several deployed al-Samoud 2 missiles.

U.N. chemical experts visited al-Muthanna to continue destroying artillery shells filled with mustard agent but their work was delayed by poor weather.  A separate team conducted an inspection of Dar al-Salam Factory for Chemical Industries, about 70 kilometers west of Baghdad.

Inspectors visited the Mansour Electronic Company, west of Baghdad, and the Sa’ad State Company in Baghdad.

A biological inspections team visited the Qadasiyah Dairy Factory, about 180 kilometers south of Baghdad.

IAEA teams inspected the al-Tahidi Company, which specializes in electronics, and the al-Naser al-Adheem General Company in Baghdad.  A third IAEA team conducted radiation surveys in two Baghdad neighborhoods (IAEA release, Feb. 18).

Today, inspectors visited the Abu Ghraib missile site, northwest of Baghdad, Reuters reported.

Teams also visited the al-Mamoun, Ibn al-Haytham and al-Fidaa military sites near Baghdad.

A UNMOVIC team returned to al-Muthanna and another set of inspectors visited a Baghdad vegetable oil factory.

IAEA teams visited military facilities at al-Nidaa, al-Zawra and another conducted radiation tests at Nahrawan, south of Baghdad (Reuters, Feb. 19).

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