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Iraq I: United States, United Kingdom Delay Security Council VoteThe United States and the United Kingdom decided not to call for a U.N. Security Council vote today, as they had originally planned, on their draft resolution on Iraq that sets a March 17 deadline for full Iraqi compliance with U.N. demands, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, March 10). The council has instead chosen to hold an open meeting on Iraq today and tomorrow at the request of the Nonaligned Movement, which is made up of about 115 developing countries, AP reported. This meeting could push back a vote on the resolution until at least Thursday, diplomats said (Edith Lederer, Associated Press/Yahoo.com, March 11). In the meantime, British officials have begun revising the resolution after a majority of council members indicated they would not vote for it as it now stands, diplomats and White House officials said. The proposed changes include an extension of the March 17 deadline and the inclusion of a series of “benchmarks” that would help judge Iraqi compliance, according to the Washington Post. The benchmarks would consist of several broad categories of specific required Iraqi actions: arranging a large number of private interviews with Iraqi scientists; providing substantial information on alleged VX stockpiles, accounting for all outstanding anthrax stockpiles and providing all information on ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles, the Post reported. “We are examining whether a list of defined tests for Iraqi compliance would be useful in helping the Security Council come to a judgment. What we’re proposing is eminently reasonable. We are not expecting [Iraqi President] Saddam [Hussein] to have disarmed in a week or so,” British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said. “But what we are expecting is that the Iraqi regime should demonstrate by that time the full, unconditional, immediate active cooperation demanded of it by successive U.N. Security Council resolutions,” he added. There is little chance that the United States will support an extension of the deadline past March 21, officials said. A number of the six still-undecided nonpermanent Security Council members had requested the inclusion of the benchmarks and said yesterday that they did not object to the inclusion of a deadline. The benchmarks would only be feasible, however, if there was a post-deadline Security Council meeting to determine if Iraq had met them, they said. “The normal process would be for (the inspectors) to continue, then come back to the council and say” whether the goals have been met, said a diplomat from one of the six still-undecided countries. “Then the council decides,” the diplomat added. A British official said that a collective decision by the council on Iraqi compliance would not be needed, adding that it would be apparent if Iraq had chosen to comply. “We can tell the difference between someone who is genuinely committed and someone who is hanging back,” the official said (DeYoung/Lynch, Washington Post, March 11). U.S. President George W. Bush yesterday called the leaders of a number of countries, including China, Japan, South Africa, Turkey, Nigeria and Spain, in an attempt to increase support for the draft resolution, according to the White House. While only China and Spain are Security Council members, the others are seen as having influence over the council members in their respective regions, according to the Washington Times. “Today is a very busy day of phone diplomacy at the White House,” White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said. Bush “is working this issue and making phone calls to the various nations, calling undecided nations, calling other nations, for example, and urging them to call members of the Security Council,” he added (Nicholas Kralev, Washington Times, March 11). French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin yesterday concluded a visit to the three African members of the council — Angola, Cameroon and Guinea — which had been an attempt to sway them into joining France in opposition to the draft resolution, according to Reuters. The three countries, however, did not indicate that they had made a decision on their stance. Angola will not be pressured into making a decision, Foreign Minister Joao Bernardo de Miranda said. “We are not giving into pressure … Angola’s position is closer to neither the U.S. nor France. It is Angola’s position,” de Miranda said. “Angola is for peace but the disarmament of Iraq is a primary question,” he added (Saliou Samb, Reuters, March 11). French President Jacques Chirac said yesterday that his country would vote “no” on the current draft resolution. “There could, effectively, be a majority of nine votes or more for a new resolution, one which would authorize war,” Chirac said. “If that was the case, then France would vote ‘no.’ France will vote ‘no’ because she considers tonight that there is no reason to wage a war to reach the goal we set ourselves, that is the disarmament of Iraq,” he added (PBS Online NewsHour, March 10). A member of Pakistan’s ruling Muslim League-Quaid-e-Azam party said today that his country would abstain on the vote. “The decision is that Pakistan should abstain,” said Azeem Chaudhary. A Pakistani government spokesman said, however, that Islamabad had still not arrived at a final decision. “The decision will be taken at the crunch time, keeping in view the national interests,” the spokesman said (United Press International, March 11). White House Criticizes Blix Over Missing Data Meanwhile, the Bush administration yesterday criticized U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix for omitting from his briefing to the Security Council last week several examples of Iraq’s development of banned weapons systems. Blix did not tell the council about a discovered Iraqi drone capable of being armed with chemical weapons, a possible large supply of anthrax and the possible existence of a cluster bomb that could have been filled with biological or chemical agents, Bush administration spokesmen said. While these systems were mentioned in the written report Blix provided to council members, he did not include mention of them in his oral presentation, according to the Boston Globe. U.N. spokesman Ewen Buchanan denied, however, that Blix had concealed any important information. Inspectors have not yet determined whether the drone is a prohibited item and Blix has repeatedly discussed missing anthrax stockpiles, Buchanan said. Blix had also included the issue of drones in his presentation, Buchanan added (Donnelly/Neuffer, Boston Globe, March 11). There is evidence that Iraq attempted to dismantle the undeclared drone last week after it had been discovered by inspectors, according to U.N. and U.S. officials. Inspectors found the drone, which has a wingspan of almost 25 feet, at the Samarra East flight-test facility north of Baghdad in mid-February, officials said. They raised questions about the drone last week after visiting the Ibn Fernas Center in northern Baghdad, where drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles are produced, according to the Washington Post. When inspectors returned to the Samarra East site the next day, they found two large drones, with Iraqi technicians dismantling one of them, as well as two smaller drones, a senior Bush administration official said. “They apparently did not expect the inspectors,” the official said (Walter Pincus, Washington Post, March 11). U.S. Action Could Violate U.N. Charter U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said yesterday that if the United States chose to go to war with Iraq without Security Council approval, it could be in violation of the U.N. charter. The U.N. charter is “very clear on circumstances under which force can be used,” Annan said in The Hague. “If the U.S. and others were to go outside the council and take military action, it would not be in conformity with the charter,” he added. In a reply, Fleischer countered that “from a moral point of view,” if the United Nations failed to support the U.S. stance, it will have “failed to act once again,” such as it did during the genocide in Rwanda in the 1990s (Tyler/Barringer, New York Times, March 11). Iraq Complains of U.S. Treatment of Diplomatic Couriers The United States has denied visas to Iraqi diplomatic couriers, which has forced Iraqi envoys within the United States to communicate through electronic measures subject to interception, Iraqi U.N. Ambassador Mohammed al-Douri said (see GSN, March 6). “We cannot get visas for our couriers. As such, we can no longer send any diplomatic pouches,” al-Douri said. The visa denials appear to be part of a larger U.S. effort to disrupt Iraqi diplomatic communications throughout the world, al-Douri said. He added that U.S. officials have approached several members of the Iraqi U.N. delegation and encouraged them to defect. “Everyone on my staff has been approached to defect but me,” al-Douri said. “I expect to be declared persona non grata,” he added (Stewart Stogel, Washington Times, March 11). U.S. Spying Controversy British authorities are investigating a British intelligence employee in connection with a leaked U.S. National Security Agency memo that detailed increase U.S. surveillance of Security Council members, according to the Baltimore Sun (see GSN, March 4). A 28-year-old female employee of the Government Communications Headquarters was arrested last week and held overnight before being released on bail the following day, said Inspector Richard Smith of the Gloucestershire Constabulary. The employee has not been charged but is being investigated “on suspicion of contravening the Official Secrets Act,” which protects intelligence information, Smith said (Scott Shane, Baltimore Sun, March 11). Inspections U.N. inspectors visited at least seven suspect Iraqi sites yesterday, according to an International Atomic Energy Agency press release. Biological experts from the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission visited the Nehrawan branch of the Mesopotamia State Company for Seed Handling. Inspectors also visited the State Establishment for Mechanical Industries in Iskandariyah and the Hiteen State Company. IAEA inspectors visited al-Tuwaitha to review the status of radioactive waste still in storage there and to conduct a radiation survey (IAEA release, March 10). For further information, see:
From March 11, 2003 issue.Iraq II: Summary of InspectionsExperts from the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency have conducted hundreds of inspections in Iraq since resuming the post-Gulf War inspection regime Nov. 27, 2002. About 100 inspectors are now based in the country at two facilities in Baghdad and Mosul. The following chart summarizes some of the inspectors’ recently reported activities.
From March 10, 2003 issue.Iraq I: Support for U.S. Resolution Is Not MaterializingThe chances of the U.N. Security Council approving the U.S.-British-Spanish draft resolution on Iraq did not improve over the weekend, as the United States has still not gained commitments from nine members of the council and Russia explicitly vowed to veto the resolution, according to reports (see GSN, March 7). Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said today that Russia would vote against the resolution that includes a March 17 deadline for Iraq to comply with earlier U.N. resolutions. Ivanov’s statement is the first time Russia has explicitly said it would vote against the resolution. “Russia believes that no further resolutions of the U.N. Security Council are necessary, and therefore Russia openly declares that if [the] draft resolution that currently has been introduced for consideration and which contains demands in an ultimate form that cannot be met is nonetheless put to a vote, then Russia will vote against this resolution,” Ivanov was quoted by Interfax as saying (Associated Press/Yahoo.com, March 10). As for getting the nine votes needed to pass a council resolution, “We don’t have it in the bank,” an administration official said, adding that the United States would still continue to push for a vote on the resolution this week. U.S. officials said they still hope that nine of the 15 council members will ultimately decide to support the resolution. Two of the six undecided permanent members, Chile and Guinea, indicated over the weekend, however, that they were not yet ready to give their support, according to the New York Times. In a further attempt to gain backing, the United States is “likely” to agree to define the benchmarks Iraq would have to meet before the deadline to show compliance, although such requirements would likely be described outside the resolution, an administration official said. Some officials also said the March 17 deadline might be extended if that would help increase support. “If somebody comes to us and says, ‘Give us a few more days, and we’ll vote for you,’ it’s something we would have to consider,” an administration official said (Weisman/Barringer, New York Times, March 10). The United States might soon dispatch several senior officials, such as Secretary of State Colin Powell and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, to the undecided council members to try and gain their support, according to the London Independent. “There may well be a need for us to do some travel,” Rice said yesterday on ABC’s This Week (London Independent, March 10). France, which has vigorously opposed any new resolution that would authorize military action against Iraq, has also begun a new round of diplomacy to persuade the undecided council members to oppose the draft resolution, according to CNN.com. French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin has been sent to visit three undecided African council members — Angola, Cameroon and Guinea (CNN.com, March 10). In an apparent countermeasure to de Villepin’s Africa trip, the United Kingdom, a staunch supporter of the U.S. stance on Iraq, has dispatched Baroness Amos, minister for Africa, to Angola, Cameroon and Guinea, according to the BBC (BBC.com, March 10). French President Jacques Chirac has called for an emergency summit of Security Council members in an attempt to develop a compromise solution to the Iraq crisis, his office said Saturday. “War is not a small thing,” Chirac’s office said. “When you declare death or life, this merits being taken to the highest level of responsibility, (where leaders could) think through crisis management,” it added. Powell, however, dismissed the idea, saying there was no need for such a meeting when council members have been expressing their opinions “openly and candidly” (Associated Press/Ha’aretz, March 9). Inspectors Question U.S.-British Evidence Meanwhile, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei told the Security Council Friday that an important piece of evidence that Iraq sought to rebuild its nuclear weapons program appears to be a fraud (see GSN, Jan. 29). Documents that indicated that Iraq attempted to purchase uranium from Niger were determined to be “not authentic” after being examined by U.N. and independent experts, ElBaradei said. The documents, a series of letters between Iraqi agents and Nigerien officials, were given to inspectors by the United Kingdom after prior review by U.S. intelligence. The creators of the documents had made a number of crude errors that signaled their forgery, such as the inclusion of names and titles that did not match the individuals who held office at the time the letters were supposed to have been written, officials said. “We fell for it,” said one U.S. official who reviewed the documents. The IAEA does not fault the United Kingdom or the United States for the forged documents, an agency spokesman said. The documents “were shared with us in good faith,” the spokesman said. In his report, ElBaradei also rejected the claim, often made by U.S. officials, that Iraq had purchased high-strength aluminum tubes for use in a uranium-enrichment program (see GSN, Feb. 6). Investigators had discovered a large number of documents that supported Iraq’s claim that the tubes were for use in a conventional rocket program, ElBaradei said. IAEA centrifuge experts had also concluded the tubes were not suitable for use in centrifuges, he said. “It was highly unlikely that Iraq could have achieved the considerable redesign needed to use them in a revived centrifuge program,” ElBaradei said (Joby Warrick, Washington Post, March 8). White House officials yesterday attempted to counter ElBaradei’s report. On the issue of whether the aluminum tubes were meant for a nuclear program, Powell said, “We still have an open question with respect to that and we see more information from a European country this week that suggests that that is exactly what those tubes were intended to be used for.” The United States had never meant for the claim that Iraq attempted to purchase uranium from Niger to be the sole evidence of a renewed nuclear program, Rice said. “I think you’ll find this has not been cited as a core to our case,” Rice said. “What we’ve said is that we believe the weakness in (Iraqi President) Saddam Hussein’s program is the absence of fissile material and we do not know whether he has acquired fissile material,” she said (Agence France-Presse, March 9). In his briefing Friday to the Security Council, U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix expressed frustration with the quality of intelligence that the United States has provided to inspectors. “I would rather have twice the amount of high-quality information about sites to inspect than twice the number of expert inspectors to send,” Blix said. While the White House has insisted that all relevant information is being given to the inspectors, some officials have privately said the quality and quantity of intelligence is low. “We have some information, not a lot,” a U.S. official said. Some of the information that the CIA has compiled on suspect Iraqi sites is of such low value it would be of little use to the inspectors, a U.S. intelligence official said. “You don’t swamp the U.N. with everything we have ever heard,” the official said (Drogin/Miller, Los Angeles Times, March 8). New Evidence of Iraqi WMD efforts U.N. inspectors have discovered in Iraq a new type of rocket that appears to be configured to disperse bomblets filled with biological and chemical weapons agents, U.S. officials said. The reconfigured rocket warheads appear to be made out of Iraq’s arsenals of imported and indigenous weapons, according to the New York Times. The rocket was discovered in the last few months during the latest round of inspections, a U.S. official said. Iraqi officials first said the weapon was designed as a conventional cluster bomb, but a few days later they said some might have been configured for use with chemical weapons, the U.S. officials said. The appearance of the rocket’s cluster bomblets suggested their use with biological and chemical agents, the U.S. official said. “If you take the kinds of fuses we know they have, and you screw them in there, when these things come out from the main frame and they explode inward, chemical agents come out,” the official said. “These can be used for biological weapons, too,” the official added (Cushman/Weisman, New York Times, March 10). A report circulated by Blix to the Security Council members after his briefing Friday also contained evidence of an undeclared large Iraqi drone, according to the London Times (see GSN, Feb. 6). The drone is believed to be the same one mentioned by Powell during his intelligence presentation to the Security Council on Feb. 5, diplomatic sources said (Bone/Watson, London Times, March 10). The United States and the United Kingdom are expected to call on Blix today to label the drone as a “smoking gun,” according to the Times. The U.S. and British U.N. ambassadors plan to call on Blix to provide more information on the drone — the first undisclosed program discovered by inspectors — than he did during his speech to the council. “It’s incredible,” said a senior diplomat from one of the still-undecided council members. “This report is going to have a clearly defined impact on the people who are wavering. It’s a biggie,” the diplomat added (James Bone, London Times, March 10). Blix’s written report also detailed Iraqi plans to use biological and chemical weapons during the 1991 Gulf War in the event of a U.S. nuclear strike on Baghdad, according to the Los Angeles Times. Hussein authorized Iraqi commanders to launch an attack with 50 al-Hussein missiles armed with chemical weapons and 25 armed with biological weapons in the event of a nuclear strike, the report says. The missiles, which had a range of 400 miles, were deployed at four hidden sites around Baghdad, it says. In the event of a new war with the United States, Hussein has authorized the use of biological and chemical weapons in the event he is either captured or killed, which would place his younger son, Qusay, in power, U.S. intelligence officials said (Bob Drogin, Los Angeles Times, March 10). Time Drawing Near ElBaradei today called on Hussein to take distinct steps to demonstrate compliance with inspections. “What’s required is a dramatic change in spirit and sincerity,” ElBaradei said in an interview with the al-Hayat newspaper. “The Iraqi president (could) himself announce on television that he is prepared for complete cooperation and that he is giving directives to all Iraqi officials to cooperate completely and present all the documents they have, or even if they have weapons, to reveal them,” he added. Iraq still has a chance to avoid war, through the door is quickly closing, ElBaradei said. “I still feel that the war is not inevitable. But without doubt we are drawing near,” ElBaradei said. “The two coming weeks will be decisive and the ball is still in Iraq’s court,” he added (Reuters, March 10). Iraq, however, believes it can do nothing now to prevent a war with the United States, Gen. Hossam Mohammed Amin, chief Iraqi liaison to the inspectors, said yesterday. Even so, Iraq would still continue to cooperate with the inspections process in order to derail the latest draft resolution, he said. “We are preparing ourselves for a war, and at the same time we are working to resolve remaining issues” with the inspectors, said Amin, head of the Iraqi National Monitoring Directorate. “There is a probability that the situation will be enhanced by the (support) of other states in the Security Council and the people around the world,” he said (Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Washington Post, March 10). Inspections U.N. inspectors visited at least three suspect Iraqi sites today, according to Reuters. Inspectors traveled to al-Taji to observe the destruction of prohibited al-Samoud 2 missiles (see related GSN story, today). They also traveled to al-Aziziyah Airfield and Firing Range to search for additional R-400 bombs. Inspectors also visited a leather-dyeing factory in Nahrawan, south of Baghdad, said Iraqi Information Ministry official Uday al-Ta’ae (Hassan Hafidh, Reuters, March 10). Yesterday, inspectors visited at least eight suspect Iraqi sites, according to a U.N. press release. Inspectors supervised the destruction of al-Samoud 2 missiles. They also traveled to al-Qa Qaa storage site to verify the tagging of al-Samoud 2 warheads and to inspect the facility’s solid propellant production plant; and to al-Fatah Factory of the Karama State Company to destroy mechanical parts of guidance and control assemblies for al-Samoud 2 missiles, the U.N. release said. Biological experts from the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission traveled to al-Aziziyah Airfield and Firing Range to supervise the transfer of excavated R-400 bombs to a more secure section of the site. UNMOVIC chemical inspectors visited the Tadmur Company for Tanning and Leather Industry. Inspectors also visited areas northwest of the northern city of Kirkuk. IAEA inspectors visited the General Systems Company in central Baghdad. They also conducted a radiation survey inside the buildings of the Jurf al-Naddaf complex, south of Baghdad (U.N. release, March 9). For further information, see:
From March 10, 2003 issue.Iraq II: Summary of InspectionsExperts from the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency have conducted hundreds of inspections in Iraq since resuming the post-Gulf War inspection regime Nov. 27, 2002. About 100 inspectors are now based in the country at two facilities in Baghdad and Mosul. The following chart summarizes some of the inspectors’ recently reported activities.
From March 7, 2003 issue.Iraq I: Inspectors Brief Security Council; British Resolution Receives Underwhelming SupportIn a tense battle of wills in the U.N. Security Council today, British Foreign Minister Jack Straw introduced amendments to the U.S.-British-Spanish draft resolution on Iraq that would set a deadline “on or before” March 17 for Iraq to disarm or face military action. The original draft, introduced Feb. 24, would only have the council decide “that Iraq has failed to take the final opportunity afforded to it” to disarm, implying adoption of the resolution would immediately authorize the use of force (see GSN, March 6). The amendment was immediately rejected by French Foreign Minster Dominique de Villepin, the leading proponent of giving inspectors more time. “We won’t accept this resolution,” he told reporters minutes after Straw’s statement. “We cannot accept any ultimatum, any automatic use of force.” He said setting a deadline of only 10 days “is the logic of war, we don’t accept this logic.” While not explicitly saying France would veto the new draft, de Villepin said, “We would not accept a resolution that would lead to war.” The action came following the latest reports to the council from chief U.N. weapons inspectors Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei, who said Iraq was being more cooperative, if not fully cooperative, and that they had not unearthed evidence that Iraq had a functioning nuclear weapons program. Blix, chairman of the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, told the council, “After a period of somewhat reluctant cooperation there has been an acceleration of initiatives on the Iraqi side since the end of January” on revealing its programs of weapons of mass destruction, thus giving ammunition both to countries wanting to continue inspections as well as those who want to abandon inspections in favor of the use of force against Iraq. This new cooperation on Iraq’s part “is welcomed, but the value of these measures must be soberly judged by how many question marks they actually succeed in straightening out. This is not yet clear,” said Blix. Iraqi initiatives “cannot be said to constitute immediate cooperation, nor do they necessarily cover all areas of relevance,” but, he added, “they are nevertheless welcomed.” Blix gave indirect support to the position of France, Russia and Germany that inspectors should be allowed to continue their work until July when he said, “While cooperation can, and is to be, immediate, disarmament and verification of it cannot be instant … It will not take years nor weeks, but months.” The United States and United Kingdom argue that Iraq is not cooperating and thus inspections have run their course. Blix helped that case by saying the cooperation has not been “immediate and unconditional,” as called for in Resolution 1441, and that there are many questions regarding the fate of weapons Iraq was known to have at the end of the Gulf War, including anthrax and VX nerve gas, and that it is not known if Iraq resumed weapons programs after inspectors left at the end of 1998. On the other hand, Blix said UNMOVIC has found no evidence “so far” to back up two of the charges the United States has made against Iraq: that Iraq is developing biological weapons in mobile laboratories and that it is conducting illegal weapons production underground. Blix also told the council that UNMOVIC has completed a report that contains clusters of issues that “will identify ‘key remaining disarmament tasks’“ as called for in Resolution 1284, which created UNMOVIC. This cluster list will provide “a more up-to-date review of the outstanding issues” than earlier documents, he said. Each cluster ends “with a number of points indicating what Iraq could do to solve the issues. Hence Iraq’s cooperation could be measured against the successful resolution of issues,” said Blix, again reinforcing the case of those who say more time for inspections will achieve results. ElBaradei, executive director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told the council, “After three months of intrusive inspections, we have to date found no evidence or plausible indication of the revival of a nuclear weapons program in Iraq.” While not able to completely close the books on Iraq’s nuclear program, ElBaradei said there is “no indication” that Iraq has resumed nuclear activities in buildings identified by national intelligence agencies as conducting such work, or that Iraq has attempted to import uranium since 1990 or that the aluminum tubes Iraq attempted to import are, as the United States has said, useful for producing weapon-grade uranium. Powell Unconvinced Following the inspectors’ reports, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said there is “one, very important question before us: ‘Has the Iraqi regime made the fundamental strategic and political decision to comply with the United Nations Security Council resolutions and rid itself of all of its weapons of mass destruction?’” He said he listened to the inspectors “very carefully to see if I were hearing that finally Iraq had reached that point,” but said Iraqi concessions had “been pulled out ... by the possibility of military force by the political will of the Security Council.” He added that cooperation has been given “only grudgingly, rarely unconditionally and primarily under the threat of force.” “Now is the time for the council to send a clear message to [Iraqi President] Saddam [Hussein] that we have not been taken in by his transparent tactics,” Powell said. “We believe that the resolution that has been put forward for action by this council is appropriate and in the very near future, we should bring it before this council for a vote.” Powell called Blix’s cluster report “a category of 12 years of abject failure” by Iraq to disarm. It is “page after page of how Iraq has obstructed the inspectors,” he said. The actions asked of Iraq “could have taken many times over the preceding 12 years.” “How can we rely on assurances now?” he asked. If Iraq was committed to disarmament, the report “would not be 167 pages of issues and questions, it would thousands upon thousand of pages of answers.” Germany Responds Advocates of continuing inspections said there was no need to abandon inspections now that they were succeeding and when the alternative, the use of force, is attended by so many uncertainties. Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer of Germany, the first council member to speak this morning, said, “Given the current situation and the ongoing progress, we see no need for a second resolution. Why should we leave the path we have embarked on now that the inspections on the basis of Resolution 1441 are showing viable results?” “Iraq’s cooperation with UNMOVIC and the IAEA does not yet fully meet U.N. demands,” Fischer said. “Baghdad could have taken many of the recent steps earlier and more willingly. In recent days, cooperation has nevertheless notably improved. This is a positive development which makes all the less comprehensible why this development should now be abandoned” (Jim Wurst, Global Security Newswire, March 7). Bush Press Conference U.S. President George W. Bush said last night during a nationally televised press conference that the United States is ready to lead a war against Iraq without the support of the United Nations in order to disarm Iraqi President Saddam Hussein of weapons of mass destruction. “I’m confident the American people understand that when it comes to our security, if we need to act, we will act, and we really don’t need United Nations approval to do so,” Bush said. “When it comes to our security, we really don’t need anybody’s permission,” he added. In his address, Bush warned that the U.N. Security Council’s reputation is at stake in the debate over Iraq. “I believe it’s an important moment for the Security Council, itself. And the reason I say that is because this issue has been before the Security Council — the issue of disarmament of Iraq – for 12 long years,” Bush said. “And the fundamental question facing the Security Council is, ‘Will its words mean anything?’ When the Security Council speaks, will the words have merit and weight?” he added. The United States has been working over the last few weeks to obtain the support of the nonpermanent members of the Security Council for the draft resolution. While there have been reports that the United States would not call for a vote on the resolution if it did not have guarantees of enough votes for passage, Bush said the Untied States would still push for a vote regardless of stated support (see GSN, Feb. 21). “No matter what the whip count is, we’re calling for the vote. We want to see people stand up and say what their opinion is about Saddam Hussein and the utility of the United Nations Security Council,” Bush said. “It’s time for people to show their cards, to let the world know where they stand when it comes to Saddam,” he added. Bush laid out several pieces of U.S. intelligence countering Hussein’s claims of disarmament. For example, while Iraq has been destroying its stockpile of prohibited al-Samoud 2 missiles, U.S. intelligence has found that Hussein has ordered their continued production, Bush said. Iraq has also attempted to hide its stockpiles of biological and chemical agents by moving them to different locations every 12 to 24 hours and by placing them within vehicles parked in residential areas, he said. “These are not the actions of a regime that is disarming,” Bush said. “These are the actions of a regime engaged in a willful charade. These are the actions of a regime that systematically and deliberately is defying the world,” he added. Bush last night also promised that the United States would aid in the reconstruction of a post-Hussein Iraq in the event of war, including humanitarian assistance and aid in establishing a democratic government. “In the event of conflict, America also accepts our responsibility to protect innocent lives in every way possible,” Bush said. “We’ll help that nation to build a just government, after decades of brutal dictatorship. The form and leadership of that government is for the Iraqi people to choose. Anything they choose will be better than the misery and torture and murder they have known under Saddam Hussein,” he added (Mike Nartker, Global Security Newswire, March 7). Inspectors Not Receiving Best Intelligence, U.S. Senator Says The United States has withheld from U.N. inspectors most of its best intelligence information on Iraq’s suspected WMD sites, U.S. Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.) said yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 28). “I think we have a strong case (for war) in the Security Council,” Levin said. “But the administration has undermined the inspection process and mocked the inspectors. We have reduced the possibility that we catch the SOB with the stuff and galvanize the world community,” he added. Former CIA counterterrorism official Vince Cannistraro said he agreed with Levin’s claims that the United States has not provided the best of its intelligence. This might have been done, however, because the White House has never wanted the inspections to succeed, he said. “The objective is not disarmament, it’s to get rid of Saddam. We won’t take yes for an answer on this,” Cannistraro said. In a letter sent yesterday to Levin and Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner (R-Va.), CIA Director George Tenet defended the U.S. information-sharing with inspectors, saying that U.S. agencies have given “extensive intelligence and other support to the U.N. on Iraq and weapons of mass destruction for over 10 years” (Dave Moniz, USA Today, March 7). Inspections U.N. inspectors visited at least 13 suspect Iraqi sites yesterday, according to an IAEA press release. Missile experts from the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission traveled to al-Mutasim to observe the final concrete encasing of two destroyed casting chambers. UNMOVIC missile inspectors also visited the al-Samoud Factory to inventory al-Samoud 2 missile components. UNMOVIC biological inspectors traveled to al-Aziziyah Airfield and Firing Range to take samples from excavated R-400 bombs. They also inspected two facilities near Aziziyah owned by the Mesopotamia State Company for Seeds. UNMOVIC chemical inspectors visited the Akashat Phosphate Mine in al-Qaim. Inspectors conducted aerial inspections of three undisclosed sites located in the northern no-fly zone, according to the IAEA release. Inspectors based in the northern city of Mosul visited the North Gas Company in Kirkuk. IAEA inspectors visited the SAAD State Company in Baghdad and conducted a review of a new factory the company is designing. IAEA inspectors also visited a private trading company in the Mansour district of Baghdad and conducted a radiation survey in north Baghdad (IAEA release, March 6). For further information, see:
From March 7, 2003 issue.U.S. Response: Pentagon Certifies Alabama Civil Support TeamThe U.S. Defense Department yesterday said it has certified the Alabama WMD civil support team, bringing the number of certified teams to 31 (see GSN, Feb. 6). The teams, part of states’ National Guard units, are ready to respond in the event of a domestic incident involving weapons of mass destruction, the Pentagon said (see GSN, Feb. 8, 2002). The department has so far certified four out of the five civil support teams authorized in the fiscal 2001 National Defense Appropriations Act (U.S. Defense Department release, March 6).
From March 7, 2003 issue.Iraq II: Summary of InspectionsExperts from the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency have conducted hundreds of inspections in Iraq since resuming the post-Gulf War inspection regime Nov. 27, 2002. About 100 inspectors are now based in the country at two facilities in Baghdad and Mosul. The following chart summarizes some of the inspectors’ recently reported activities.
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