Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris

Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro de la Prensa-Baszn Özeti
Facing Predicament Over Iraqi Weapons,
Busn'-Warns- Saaûa-rn -
By Eric Schmitt
and Steven Lee Myers
,New 'fork Times Service
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration
has warned Iraq to honor agreements
to destroy,);ts nuclear, chemical
and biological wëapons programs, but
the White House has said that it is too
soon to say what steps it will take to
ensure Baghdad's compliance.
Responding to a report Monday that
Iraq had rebuilt a series of factories long
suspected of producing chemical and
biological weapons, the White House
press secretary Ari Fleischer, said, "The
president expects Saddam Hussein to
live up to the agreements that he's made
with the United Nations, espeCially regarding
the elimination of Weapons of
mass destruction." ,
But when asked how and when the
administration' would help resume internationàl
inspectioQs of suspected
weaponssites ~d factop~s, Mr. Fleischer
sàid,"I'm not prepared to address
mat today, but we will."
. Nearlya decade after
.
Presl~~l)t
Qeorge W. Bush's father led a coahtl~n
th~' ousted Iraqi forces from Kuwait,
Iraq is one of the most daunting and
persistent fore~gn-pol~cy p~oblems left
behind by PreSident B1l1Clmton.
Mr. Bûsh and his national security
,advisers - including Colin Powell, now
secretary of state, and Vice President
Dick Cheney, who both confronted Iraq
as top defense officials 10 years ago -
have talked tough about Mr. Saddam.
But as they enter office, it is not clear
that t)ley have better options than Mr.
Cijpton bad.' mtemationlÙ support for
tough enforcement of sanctions has,
waned, while Mr. Saddam has eased his
diplomatic isolation, making it difficult
to re-energize the sanction regime'.
If Mr. Bush pursues a more aggressive
strategy, including tbe use .of military
force, his administration is likely to find,
few allies, despite ev~dence that Iraq has
,-resumed its covert work on "deadly
weapons. As a condition of ending the,
Gulf Warin 1991, Iiaq agreed to destroy,
its nuclear, chemical and biological
weapons programs, as well as stop the
production of long-range missiles to de~
liver to such weapons. \
'
But,since the mid-1998, Iraq has barred
any meaningful inspections by teams of
United Nations speèialists, who since the
end of the war had uncovereù and destroyed
large quantities of weapons an.d
found out secret programs to create biological
and chemical weapons.
"The challenge is larger than a lot of
people suspect," sàid Representative
Porter Goss, the Florida Republican who
heads the House Intelligence Committee.
"To say we've lost our eyes and ears
in Iraq is true. "
Despite his repeated criticisms ofMr.
Clinton 's handling ofIraq, Ml. Bush and
his aides have yet to detail a new ap-
~proach. Clearly, constraining Mr. Sado
dam's weapons programs is at the core
of the new administration's policy.
Ml. Powell said last week: "His only
tool, the only thing he can scare us with,
are those weapons of mass destruction.
And we have to hold him to account. "
The president' and his top advisers
'have said that they will reinvigorate the
:economic sanctions against Iraq, con-
,.vince skeptical allies of their value, and '
somehow spare Iraqi children from the
brunt of their effect. ' ,
Richard BoUcher, theState Department
spokesman, sairlMonday: "The
most important thing is to maintain the
éore sanctions, The key sanctions that do
Qlake it more difficult and prevent Iraq
'fl'om rebuilding its weapons programs,
particularly its weapons of mass deo
struction. On that, I think we have very
solid agreement. "
But even some advisers to Ml. Bush
question that approach.
"Re-energizing sanctions is a mistake,
" said Richard Perle, a foreignpolicy
adviser to, Mr. Bush during the
campaign. "Ten years'later, they're an
obvious failure. "
The new administration also supports
an' Iraqi opposition whose goal is to
'topple Mr. Saddam. Aides to Mr. Bush
contend that the Clinton administration
never wholly supported the plan, which
only undermined its credibility among
allies in Europe and the Middle East.
Although Mr. Clinton signed the Iraq
Liberation Act in the fall of 1998, authorizing
$98 million in military aid and
equipment, the administration proyided
very little in the end and explicitly re"
fused to provide any weapons.
The Bush administration has not ruled
out bombing suspected weapons sites as
a last resort.
Ml. Cheney said in the vice presidential
debate in October: "If in fact
Saddam Hussein were taking steps to try
to rebuild nutlear capability or weapons
of mass destruction.we'd have to give
very serious consideration to military
action to stop that activity."
."
SyriaOpens a Pipeline
To Illegal Baghdad Oil
Clandestine Exports Line Saddam's Pockets,
Violating UNBan and Testing U.S.Resolve
, By Robin Wright
, Los Angeles Times Service
WASHINGTON - In a major test for
the Bush administration's new foreign.
policy team, Syria has opened a key
pipeline to Baghdad'soil, a scheme that
generates at least $2 million daily in
illicit funds for the regime of the Iraqi '
president, Saddam Hussein, accörding
to senior U.S. officials, Mideast diplomats
and oil experts.
The smuggl.i.llgoperation: launched in
mid-November, is now the largest
source of independent income for Baghdad,
according to oil experts. It also
represents one of the most flagrant vi- ,
olations yet of United Nations sanctions
impo~ed because of Iraq's invasion of
Kuwait in 1990.
On a broader level, the scheme re.flects
ambitious political agendas in both Iraq
and Syria, U.S. officials and Mideast
diplomats say. By offering oil price ,dis-,
counts of up to 50 percent, Iraq is trying
to lure neighboring countries such as
Syria into secret pacts that will create a
long-term economic dependency.
"This allows Saddam to expand his
influence in the region in pernicious
ways," said a senior U.S. official.
"Poorer countries get hooked on lower
oil prices at a time they need help economically.
"
Illegal oil shipments are already flowing
by land through Turkey and Jordan
and via Iran's sea-lanes, but they are
"nickel-and-dime operations" compared
with the Syrian route, the official said.
, The operations to Turkey and Iran are
, slow, logistically difficult and çostly due
to transfers on both land and sea and
heavy bribery along the way, on top of
96