Tracking Number: 214543
Title: "US Continues to Support Sanctions Against Iraq." Remarks of State Department official Ronald E Neumann on behalf of Deputy Assistant Secretary of State David Mack at the
First World Conference of the International Iraqi Opposition Group. (920214)
Date: 19920214
Text:
*EUR504
02/14/92 * U.S. CONTINUES TO SUPPORT SANCTIONS AGAINST IRAQ (Text: Neumann remarks on behalf of Amb. Mack) (1780) Arlington, Virginia -- Following are the February 14 remarks by Ronald E. Neumann, director of the State Department Office of Northern Gulf Affairs, on behalf of Deputy Assistant Secretary David L. Mack at the First World Conference of the International Iraqi Opposition Group:
(Begin text) I appreciate the opportunity to be with you today, and to deliver these remarks on behalf of Deputy Assistant Secretary David Mack. Ambassador Mack has addressed several previous opposition gatherings in the Washington area, but out-of-town business has prevented him from being with us today.
Last month, we observed the first anniversary of the beginning of Operation Desert Storm. In less than two weeks, we will mark the first anniversary of the liberation of Kuwait. This is a fitting season for all of us to reflect on the achievements of the past year, and to reassess our policies and goals for the future.
This afternoon I want to review briefly the main points of U.S. policy both toward Iraq and the Iraqi opposition; offer a few observations on events of the past year and the present situation in Iraq; speak briefly on our hopes for a future Iraq which is prosperous, pluralistic and free; and, finally, say a few words on the challenge facing the Iraqi opposition as we see it.
U.S. POLICY TOWARD THE OPPOSITION In his remarks to the opposition conference in Crystal City last August, Ambassador Mack set forth, in some detail, the U.S. government's policy toward the Iraqi opposition.
We do not seek to create an alternative Iraqi leadership -- this is the responsibility of the Iraqi people -- nor will we endorse or support one opposition group over another. Our aims are to explain U.S. policy, improve mutual understanding, and strengthen our long-term relationship with the Iraqi people. In considering dialogue with any Iraqi opposition group, we continue to employ a set of criteria emphasizing:
-- support for democratic government; -- respect for the human rights of all Iraqis, including ethnic and religious minorities;
-- commitment to the unity and territorial integrity of Iraq; and -- rejection of terrorism. These criteria have served us well over the past year, as our contacts with a range of opposition groups have continued to expand.
U.S. POLICY TOWARD IRAQ We fully support the sanctions imposed on Iraq by the United Nations Security Council. The Iraqi government's efforts to evade and undermine sanctions have failed completely. International support for sanctions nearly a year after the fact remains excellent. I would note that the United Nations' most recent 60-day review of Iraqi compliance, just released, finds that the Iraqi government has failed to meet many requirements of the Security Council's cease-fire resolution. Sanctions remain in effect.
In addition to economic sanctions, the Security Council established a Special Commission charged with stripping Iraq of its nuclear weapons program, its chemical and biological programs and the long-range ballistic missiles which could deliver these weapons. Despite some much-publicized stalling and evasion by the Iraqi authorities, the Special Commission has identified most of the weapons of mass destruction we believe Iraq possesses, and has made significant progress toward their destruction. Critical in this endeavor is the long-term monitoring plan which is being worked out to keep Iraq from utilizing its knowledge to rebuild its weapons of mass destruction programs in the future.
The eventual success of these efforts will require continuation of the broad international consensus in support of sanctions and against Iraqi aggression. Saddam Hussein may have believed that the passage of time, or the press of other events, would make the world forget his record of brutality and butchery; but events have proven him wrong. On the evidence to date, we expect to be able to keep up the pressure for as long as it takes for the Iraqi people to change their leadership. We appreciate, and support, efforts by the Iraqi opposition to maintain and strengthen the international consensus in support of the U.N. Security Council resolutions toward Iraq.
Meanwhile, we continue to see mounting signs of strain in the regime: economic, financial, social, and within the most important military and security structures of the government. Saddam's regime is brittle, has little popular support or legitimacy, and has lost control over much of Iraq's air space, borders, territory and resources. While concrete predictions would be ill-advised, time is clearly not on the side of Saddam Hussein.
Because of the invasion and occupation of Kuwait, and the brutal repression of his own people, Saddam Hussein is discredited and cannot be redeemed. His leadership will never be accepted by the world community. We will certainly maintain the pressure so long as Saddam Hussein clings to power. As the president has stated, we would not support any easing of sanctions until there is a new government in Baghdad. I will have more to say about that in a few minutes.
HUMANITARIAN ISSUES Yet this season of anniversaries -- of Operation Desert Storm, and the liberation of Kuwait -- must be a melancholy time for the Iraqi people who, one year after the fighting ceased, continue to suffer under the savage misrule of Saddam Hussein. The State Department's annual Human Rights Report on Iraq, released at the end of last month, is a gruesome catalogue of horrors suffered by the people of Iraq.
As President Bush has made clear from the beginning, our quarrel is not with the Iraqi people. We know from long experience that Iraqis are a talented and industrious people who deserve better leaders -- leaders who will guide Iraq toward pluralism, prosperity and peace with its neighbors.
Out of concern for the Iraqi people, we have contributed more than $600 million to ongoing humanitarian relief efforts in Iraq. Last fall we cosponsored U.N. Security Council measures which would allow Iraq to sell a substantial volume of oil to finance the purchase of vital humanitarian supplies for distribution under close international supervision. Unfortunately -- tragically -- the Iraqi government has so far refused to implement this measure, and just a few weeks ago broke off talks in Vienna which might have led to implementation.
It is a measure of the cruelty and cynicism of Saddam Hussein that Baghdad's propaganda machine should continue to issue distorted, fabricated and exaggerated claims about the alleged humanitarian impact of U.N. sanctions -- which clearly allow the flow of food, medicines and other essential humanitarian goods -- while the Iraqi government itself maintains an internal embargo consciously designed to deprive Iraqi civilians -- particularly those in northern and southern areas -- of food, fuel, medicine and essential supplies.
We have called upon the Iraqi government to act at once to cease all internal repression against civilians, including the economic embargoes in effect against the north and parts of the south, and agree to immediate implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolutions 706 and 712.
FUTURE OF IRAQ Looking ahead, we are pledged to work with a successor government in the interest of the Iraqi people. As the president said in his Desert Storm anniversary statement last month:
"A new leadership in Baghdad that accepts the U.N. resolutions and is ready to live at peace with its neighbors and its own people will find a partner in the United States, one willing to seek to lift economic sanctions and help restore Iraq to its rightful place in the family of nations."
The U.S. position on the future of Iraq is clear: We favor a free, pluralistic and democratic government under which every Iraqi citizen enjoys equal political and civil rights. We have made this clear on many occasions:
-- Secretary Baker, in lengthy congressional testimony on Iraq last May, outlined his vision of a "new Iraq" in which "tolerance must replace terror";
-- In the communique issued after last summer's G-7 summit in London, President Bush joined other world leaders in declaring that the Iraqi people "deserve the opportunity to choose their leadership openly and democratically."
-- In House testimony last November, Edward Djerejian, the State Department's assistant secretary for Near Eastern and South Asian affairs, said "we will continue to broaden our contacts with the Iraqi opposition and to support the emergence of an Iraqi government representative of Iraq's pluralistic society."
We have made it clear, however, that we will not attempt to stir up ethnic rebellions which could rally Sunni supporters of Saddam or lead to the breakup of the Iraqi state.
OPPOSITION CHALLENGE And that could be where you come in. I have already spoken about the U.S. government's views on contacts with the opposition, and on the future of Iraq. I would now like to offer a few observations on the role each of you -- as members or representatives of the Iraqi opposition -- might play in shaping that future.
One thing has brought this group together today: opposition to Saddam Hussein and his ruling clique. Some of you have been laboring in the lonely opposition vineyard for a long time. Over the past year, many new parties have been added. As many of you have said to us,
-- The emergence of a much larger Iraqi opposition is positive sign: It proves that the long, intimidating shadow which Saddam Hussein cast for many years -- even over emigre communities far from Iraq -- has been removed.
-- But it also poses a challenge: the need to coordinate, organize and unify in order to formulate an effective opposition program.
As this gathering attests, much progress has been made; but as many of you have pointed out to us, much remains to be done.
Ultimately, "unifying the opposition" must mean a great deal more than simply sitting down in the same room and denouncing Saddam. Meaningful unity will require the opposition to tackle the difficult task of defining itself in positive, rather than negative, terms. Standing against Saddam Hussein is a fine prerequisite; and those of us who share your desire to see him replaced urge the opposition to proceed with the task of deciding, and declaring, exactly what it stands for.
As many of you have said in discussions with State Department officials, greater unity -- and a clearly defined, practical opposition agenda -- will raise the profile of the opposition and help you to gain legitimacy with the Iraqi people.
In closing, let me again express appreciation, on behalf of Deputy Assistant Secretary David Mack, for the chance to be with you today. I have had the privilege of meeting with many of you, and look forward to maintaining our contact as the situation in Iraq continues to evolve.
(end text) NNNN
File Identification: 02/14/92, EU-504
Product Name: Wireless File
Product Code: WF
Keywords: NEUMANN, RONALD/Speaker; CONFERENCES; IRAQ/Politics & Government;
OPPOSITION GROUPS; IRAQ-US RELATIONS; HUMAN RIGHTS; SANCTIONS; IRAQ/Economic & Social; UNITED NATIONS-SECURITY COUNCIL; INSPECTIONS; NUCLEAR WEAPONS; CHEMICAL &
Document Type: TXT
Thematic Codes: 1NE; 2FP
Target Areas: EU
PDQ Text Link: 214543
USIA Notes: *92021404.EUR
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