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

Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro
de la Prensa-Basln Ozeti
...., YOIIlIIrI (..... ) Bush needs to rethink U.S. policy. toward Iraq
by Michio Hayashi January 24, 2001
WASHINGlON- This month marks the 10th anniversary of the start of the Gulf War, when a U.S.-led multinatier
nal force launched air strikes on Iraq, following Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.
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Although the United States lü!s continued to take the lead internationally in efforts to contain Iraq and overthrow
the Saddam Hussein administration, the Iraqi president remains in power. Having been the leading hard-liner
against Iraq, the United States now risks isolation in the international community.
The new U.S. administration of President George W. Bush must now reassess its Iraq policy.
In 1998, the United States enacted the Iraq liberation Act and showed its commitment to overthrowing Saddam
Hussein by supporting opposition groups in Iraq. At the same time, it launched air strikes on Iraq after that country
refused to admit a U.N. weaponS inspection team.
While the U.N., Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission has now replaced the U.N. Special
Commission-set up to 'abolish Iraq's weapons of mass destruction-its mission has stalled, because, following air
strikes in 1998, Iraq has refused to admit any U.N. weapons inspectors.
The U.S. policy of containing Iraq hangs in the balance, as opinions differ within the U.N. Security Council as to
whether sanctions against Iraq should continue. Council members Russia, China and France have called for an
early lifting of the sanctions, even though it was the council itself that imposed them.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Congress received a report from the White House on Jan. 9 concerning U.S. policy toward
Iraq. The report detailed how 12 million dollars had been spent under the administration of former President Bill
Clinton to support Iraqi opposition groups. Congress approved the expenditures last autumn.
The eight-page report stated that the U.S. government would continue to provide humanitarian assistance, such
as medicines and foods, to the Iraqi National Congress (INC), a broad-based, cross-organizational group opposed
to the Saddam regime. The supplies would be provided to areas within Iraq itself or on the border with Iran.
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The report also specified that the United States would subsidize the INC's public relations activities through
papers and television and radio programs for the Iraqi people.
U.S. support for Iraqiopposition groups was advocated by hawkish Republican groups in Congress, known for
their hard-line stance toward Iraq. The report, by clearly stating its support for the Iraqi opposition groups, seems
to have given consideration to both Republican Party views and the needs of the opposition groups themselves.
However, the possibility of extending military support, which the U.S. State Department officially abandoned with
an announcement in May 1999, was not mentioned in the report.
Sandy Berger, nationaI security adviser under the Clinton administration, took a dim view of this situation, saying
no Arab nation believes the Iraqi opposition is capable of overthrowing the Saddam regime.
Many members of the Iraqi opposition groups were p11rged by the Saddam regime in a 1996 crackdown. Many in
the United States still remember what happé!I'\ed at that time as a nightmare.
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On Jan. 10 this year, a day after the report was delivered to Congress, then President-elect George W. Bush and
then Vice President-designate Dick Cheney visited the Defense Department and were given a detailed briefing
ahead of their inauguration by then Defense Secretary William Cohen and then Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen.
Henry Shelton. Future U.S. policy toward Iraq topped the agenda at the briefing .
During his election campaign, Bush criticized Clinton's policy toward Iraq as being timid. Cheney, who was defense
secretary at the time of the Gulf War, has made clear his view that the United States should try to strengthen
relations with its Gulf allies and reestablish U.N. weapon inspections in Iraq.
Policy toward Iraq is a high priority for Bush, who has advocated diplomacy that emphasizes U.S. national interests.
However, ~e reali~ that aw~ts the new administration is the divergent opinions within the U.N. Security Council
over sanctions agamst Iraq, WIth the sanctions themselves generally proving ineffective. The administration is under
.pressure to create a new strategy for dealing with Iraq. .
~ the ~nited Stat~ becomes isolated from the international community over economic sanctions against Iraq, U.N.
~pections of Ir~ql weapons of mass destruction and support for the Iraqi opposition, there is a possibility that, with
Its other alternatives lost, the United States may resort to a large-sca1e military operation.
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