> >STOP NATO: NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.HOME-PAGE.ORG > >It seems that Scott Ritter, former Iraq-hater extraordinaire, is starting to >see the light regarding the inhumanity of US policy toward Iraq: > >Going Nowhere On Iraq >by Scott Ritter >Ý >Hans Blix, the newly appointed executive chairman of the United Nations >Monitoring and Verification Commission, has his work cut out for him. He >takes over the difficult task of disarming Iraq from the now defunct >United Nations Special Commission. In addition, he finds himself in a >political firestorm over economic sanctions against Iraq. > > >These sanctions are the foundation of the Clinton administration's >efforts to contain Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Under new Security >Council resolutions that created UNMOVIC, economic sanctions can be >suspended (not lifted) only after Blix finds Iraq to have fully complied >with its disarmament obligation. Even then, all proceeds from the sale >of oil would be controlled by the Security Council. > > > >This arrangement is unacceptable to Iraq, which has refused to cooperate >with the new disarmament agency. In light of this, the Clinton >administration has proclaimed that economic sanctions will be locked in >place for the foreseeable future, despite compelling evidence that these >sanctions are responsible for massive suffering on the part of the Iraqi >population. > > > >Even if Iraq did agree to cooperate, Blix has a tough job. I spent seven >years as a senior weapons inspector with UNSCOM, and can testify to the >frustration of trying to disarm Iraq. Blix inherits the task of >overseeing the ''quantitative disarmament'' of Iraq - that is, >accounting for every last vestige of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction >programs. > > > >There is no latitude for inspectors to accept anything less than 100 >percent disarmament, which, given the combined effect of the passage of >time and Iraqi intransigence, leaves the inspectors in the nearly >impossible position of trying to prove a negative. The reality that, >from a qualitative standpoint, Iraq has in fact been disarmed has been >ignored. The chemical, biological, nuclear, and long-range ballistic >missile programs that were a real threat in 1991 had, by 1998, been >destroyed or rendered harmless. > > > >Iraq did not readily submit to this disarmament. Iraq concealed the >fragmented vestiges of its past weapons program. However while these >documents and disparate components would be useful if Iraq were to try >to reconstitute a weapons of mass destruction manufacturing capability, >on their own they represented a viable threat to no one. > > > >However, it is the policy of the Clinton administration to maintain >economic sanctions until Saddam Hussein is removed from office. This >means that weapons inspections will be supported only so long as they >legitimize the continuation of economic sanctions. This is the reality >faced by Blix, and understood by Iraq. > > > >Unfortunately, the Clinton administration has no viable vision for Iraq >beyond containment through continued economic sanctions. Its policy of >regime removal has no chance of success. The Iraqi opposition is plagued >by deep internal divisions, and has no meaningful constituency inside >Iraq. > > > >America's fumbling embrace of these ineffective exiles-in-waiting >guarantees that Saddam Hussein will remain in power for the foreseeable >future. It also assures that no progress toward the resumption of >meaningful arms control in Iraq will take place, thus condemning the >people of Iraq to continued torment with no hope of relief. > > > >The Clinton Iraq policy is morally bankrupt. There can be no honor in a >policy that has resulted in the doubling of the infant mortality rate in >Iraq and that leads to the death, through malnutrition and untreated >disease, of 5,000 children under the age of 5 every month. > > > >It is time for a new approach toward Iraq, one which builds upon the >concepts of diplomatic engagement. Trading the lifting (not suspension) >of economic sanctions for the resumption of meaningful inspections would >represent an important first step. Earlier this year, Iraq opened the >door for compromise by indicating its willingness to deal with weapons >inspectors if the Security Council agrees to an immediate lifting of >sanctions. The Clinton administration, locked into its failed policies >of the past, is unable and unwilling to take advantage of this >diplomatic opening. > > > >It will be up to the next president of the United States to solve the >Iraqi problem. This is an issue that the candidates should be debating. >Unfortunately, they all have indicated that they will support a >continuation of the policy of containment through economic sanctions. >Such policy formulations only guarantee that the next administration >will keep stumbling deeper into the Iraqi quagmire. The American people, >and the people of Iraq, deserve much better. > > > >Scott Ritter is the author of ''Endgame: Solving the Iraqi Problem Once >and For All.'' > >© Copyright 2000 Globe Newspaper Company > > >______________________________________________________________________ >To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb > __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi ___________________________________ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe/unsubscribe messages mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________
