30 October 1997
U.S. AND U.N. TO SADDAM: COMPLY WITH U.N. RESOLUTIONS
(White House, State Dept., DoD, UN speak out) (1040) By Wendy Ross, Jane Morse, Jacqui Porth, Judy Aita USIA Washington File Correspondents Washington -- The United States, and the entire world, is insisting that Iraq's President Saddam Hussein fully comply with weapons inspections mandated by the international community, White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry said October 30. Iraq October 29 ordered all 10 American weapons inspectors off its soil within a week. The United Nations immediately halted all activities by its 40 inspectors in Iraq, 10 of whom are American. "The Security Council acted unanimously to condemn his (Saddam Hussein's) decision and to force full compliance," McCurry said. The Security Council "was very clear in insisting on compliance and very clear in condemning any decision to thwart the work of the U.N. Sanctions Committee" that checks weapons compliance in Iraq, McCurry said. The purpose of the inspections, McCurry said, is to determine whether Iraq is concealing weapons, and "because of the record, and because of his (Saddam Hussein's) lack of compliance it is important to continue a monitoring mission to be sure there has been compliance." If Saddam does not comply, "there will be serious consequences and some of those consequences are spelled out in Security Council Resolution 1134," McCurry warned. The United States, he said, is consulting with other members of the Security Council "to determine what type of measures are warranted if there is a failure (by Iraq) to comply." Asked to comment on Iraq's charges that the American inspectors are carrying out espionage against Iraq, McCurry said "that is a laughable charge. They are working within the parameters established by the Sanctions Committee itself." Iraq's attempt to exclude Americans from U.N. weapons inspection teams is "very serious," a "mistake," and "unacceptable," according to State Department Spokesman James Rubin. "This is not an attack on the United States' personnel," he said, "this is an attack on the very fundamentals of the U.N. system." Rubin noted that the U.N. Security Council, in a statement issued October 29, demanded that Iraq comply with all its obligations to the United Nations. The Security Council made it clear that if Iraq did not comply, "serious consequences would result," Rubin said. He declined to speculate on what those consequences might be, but he said military action has not been excluded as an option. Rubin observed that Saddam Hussein miscalculated if he thought that tactical differences between the United States and some of its allies about the need for additional sanctions on Iraq would work in Iraq's favor. "All members of the United Nations Security Council are united in demanding Iraqi compliance with the Special Commission," he said. Meanwhile at the Defense Department, spokesman Ken Bacon was asked if the U.S. has moved any military forces in the Persian Gulf as a result of Iraq's recent demands. "We have not changed our force posture in the area in any way," he responded. The U.S. maintains a variety of military assets in the region to protect American interests, he added. "We have a robust force operating in the Gulf day in and day out," Bacon explained. The U.S. currently has about 18,500 military personnel in the Gulf, he said, as well as some 200 land- and sea-based aircraft and 15 ships, including the Nimitz aircraft carrier. Bacon said Iraq's demands regarding the U.N. weapons inspectors are unacceptable. Saddam Hussein's policy, the spokesman noted, is "another affront to an international community's effort to remove weapons from Iraq." The Iraqis have been trying to obstruct UN weapons inspections since almost the first day of inspection work, Bacon pointed out. He said Iraq refused to follow "international rules of the road" and let U.N. inspectors carry out their mission "with complete freedom." The spokesman said this has resulted in the U.N. Security Council suspending "time and again" any review that might possibly lead to the easing of sanctions against Iraq. "This is clearly a counter-productive policy for Saddam Hussein," he said, and as a result members of the U.N. Security Council are devising responses to Iraq's proclamation. "This is another affront to the UN. This is another affront to international order. It's another front to an international community's determination to try to remove weapons of mass destruction from Iraq," he stressed. When pressed about possible U.S. unilateral action against Iraq, Bacon reminded reporters at his October 30 Pentagon briefing that "this is an Iraq-U.N. dispute." He stressed that the U.N. is dealing with the Iraqi problem and the U.S. has not made any resulting deployment changes. Regarding Iraq's demand to end U.S. military reconnaissance flights over parts of Iraq, the spokesman said there are no changes planned. Bacon described these flights in support of the U.N. as "episodic" depending on U.N. needs. The U.N. Security Council October 29 condemned Baghdad's decision to bar American U.N. weapons inspectors from Iraq and warned of "serious consequences" if it tries to interfere with U.N. operations. Earlier on October 29, Richard Butler, the head of the special U.N. commission overseeing the destruction of Iraqi weapons (UNSCOM) suspended commission operations in Iraq and canceled talks with Iraqi officials after being told by Baghdad that American weapons inspectors in Iraq will have to leave, and no new American inspectors will be permitted to enter the country. "We want to resume our work as soon as we can but I'm not prepared to have this work continue on the basis that Iraq can say to us which person from which country is or isn't acceptable," Butler said. "Let me ask you a question: Who's next? Who's next? Today the United States, tomorrow the United Kingdom and so on. This is wrong," Butler said at a press conference. "Iraq is a party to an agreement made with the Security Council of the United Nations which specifically states that they are obliged to accept whatever staff UNSCOM hires to do the job. Iraq signed an agreement. That agreement has to be adhered to," he said.
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