• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

30 January 1998

TEXT: RICHARDSON STATEMENT ON IRAQ IN STOCKHOLM JANUARY 30

(It appears the use of force may be the only option) (1120)
Stockholm -- U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Bill Richardson
says the United States has "sought diplomatic solutions" to the crisis
over inspections in Iraq "from the beginning" but "it appears that the
use of force may be the only option that Saddam Hussein understands."
In Stockholm, on a Presidential mission January 30, Richardson noted
that "President Clinton has sent me to eight countries, all members of
the U.N. Security Council and we will go from here to Portugal, with a
stopover in Davos, where I will meet the Brazilians and the
Slovenians. I will then go on to Africa, to Gambia, to Kenya, to Gabon
then to Costa Rica and Brasilia," before returning to the United
States the first week of February.
"We have pushed forward Security Council statements and resolutions.
There have been special envoys, some of the best in the world,
including your own Jan Eliasson; have been out there. The Russians
have tried diplomacy; as Saddam Hussein is not listening to diplomacy
it could be that he only listens to force. We have made it clear from
the very beginning that we would not rule out any options and that we
would be prepared to use force, if necessary.
"As you know," Richardson said, "the United States feels it does not
need any additional Security Council action to justify use of force.
We are prepared to take whatever action may be necessary without any
additional Council action. Our goal has always been to bring Iraq into
full compliance with its international obligations and not to punish
Iraq."
President Clinton said at Fort McNair January 29: "We are determined
to deny Saddam the capacity to use weapons of mass destruction again."
Following is the US/UN text, as prepared for delivery:
(begin text)
Statement by Ambassador Bill Richardson at a Press Conference in
Stockholm, Sweden on January 30, 1998
Let me just say that this is a Presidential mission, President Clinton
has sent me to eight countries, all members of the U.N. Security
Council and we will go from here to Portugal, with a stopover in
Davos, where I will meet the Brazilians and the Slovenians. I will
then go on to Africa, to Gambia, to Kenya, to Gabon then to Costa Rica
and Brasilia, returning next week. But I want to note that I am in
Sweden first.
Sweden is a very active and positive member of the U.N. Security
Council. It's contributions in the Security Council this year have
been outstanding, as they were last year. Sweden's role in
peacekeeping, Sweden's role in Bosnia, in Africa, on human rights
issues has been noteworthy and outstanding. The United States and
Sweden have a very good strong relationship and my objective here in
Sweden is to talk to Swedish officials on a joint strategy on Iraq. We
have had some very good, constructive, successful talks this morning.
I met with the Prime Minister, with the Foreign Minister, and with my
good friend Jan Eliasson, the State Secretary and we will leave this
afternoon for Davos.
Let me say that -- Jan Eliasson will obviously speak for his views of
our meetings and as far the U.S. is concerned, our talks were
successful, very good. I think there was a general agreement that the
situation in Iraq is very grave. As members of the Security Council
there was a general view that Iraq is in violation of the Council's
resolution mandate and that its failure to comply is unacceptable.
Sweden and the United States have joined in resolutions and statements
that reflect that. If left unchallenged, Iraq's defiance threatens the
ability of the U.N. Security Council to fulfill its mandate to
maintain international peace and security.
I think there is general agreement that the time for diplomacy has all
but run out, and that Iraq cannot be permitted to violate the will of
the international community with impunity. The threat which Iraq's
weapons of mass destruction poses to the region and to the world is
too great to ignore. I think there was a general agreement that all
options for resolving this crisis should remain on the table,
including the military option. Let me also say that in the view of the
United States, the situation is very grave and very serious. Iraq
still shows no sign of granting the U.N. inspection team the full,
unfettered access that it needs to carry out the U.N. Council's
mandate. Saddam's obstruction has made UNSCOM unable to fulfill its
mandate. This is what Ambassador Butler said; "they cannot fulfill
their mandate under present conditions."
We are reaching a point at which diplomatic options for obtaining
Iraq's cooperation with UNSCOM are rapidly becoming exhausted. That is
the U.S. point of view. Iraq's challenge to the Council's authority is
fundamental and serious and we believe that failure by the U.N.
Security Council to respond forcefully to this challenge will
seriously undermine its credibility.
We have sought diplomatic solutions to this crisis from the beginning.
We have pushed forward Security Council statements and resolutions.
There have been special envoys, some of the best in the world,
including your own Jan Eliasson; have been out there. The Russians
have tried diplomacy; as Saddam Hussein is not listening to diplomacy
it could be that he only listens to force. We have made it clear from
the very beginning that we would not rule out any options and that we
would be prepared to use force, if necessary. It appears that the use
of force may be the only option that Saddam Hussein understands. We
have found before that the Council's finding of material breach has
changed Saddam Hussein's mind. We would support that finding of
material breach but some members in the Security Council oppose it.
As you know, the United States feels it does not need any additional
Security Council action to justify use of force. We are prepared to
take whatever action may be necessary without any additional Council
action. Our goal has always been to bring Iraq into full compliance
with its international obligations and not to punish Iraq. President
Clinton said yesterday: "We are determined to deny Saddam the capacity
to use weapons of mass destruction again."
The time has come for Iraq to understand clearly that there is no
alternative to full cooperation, full unfettered access. We cannot
accept anything less. Let me conclude. Once again, our talks here in
Sweden were very productive. We believe that we share common goals;
common objectives.
(end text)