13 February 1998
SADDAM RESPONSIBLE IF FORCE IS USED ON IRAQ, CLINTON REPEATS
(President says it will be his decision, "not mine") (820) By Wendy S. Ross USIA White House Correspondent Washington -- For the third straight day in a row, President Clinton said February 13 that Iraq's Saddam Hussein will be responsible if force is used against suspected weapons sites in Iraq. Speaking to reporters after a White House ceremony in the Oval Office to swear in a new U.S. Surgeon General, Clinton said that "if there is military action over this matter in Iraq, it will be Saddam Hussein's decision, not mine. And it's up to him to make" the decision to "permit qualified, honest, nonpolitical, technically competent inspectors to have access to those sites" which he has not permitted them to visit. "Just look at the volume, look at the sheer volume of stocks and weapons in the chemical and biological area. Look at the nuclear work that's been done since the end of the Gulf War," Clinton said, in explaining why the United Nations Special Commission in Iraq (UNSCOM) which monitors weapons of mass destruction must have unfettered access to the sites it wants to inspect. Clinton said he hopes and prays that the Iraqi leader will make the right decision. "The inspection system works. It has made the world safer," Clinton explained. "If he would let that inspection system be completed and accept the offer of the international community, that the United States strongly supports, to sell more oil and have more funds for food and medicine and for reconstituting the basic fundamental necessities of human life in his country, we would be well on the way to resolving this. "This is not a complicated thing," Clinton said. "A country like Iraq can be a great country and succeed without having a chemical and biological weapons program and the means to visit those weapons on their neighbors. And this is a decision for him to make. I think it is a no-brainer in terms of what's right for the people, the children and the future of Iraq. But the rest of us have to worry about the children and the people and the future of all the people that are around Iraq or might someday find their way in harm's way if those weapons of chemical and biological destruction are more widely disseminated." Asked about the latest Russian statements opposing use of force to resolve the Iraqi stalemate made February 12 in Moscow by Russia's Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev in talks there with Secretary of Defense Cohen, Clinton said Russia's opposition to military action would not stop U.S. forces going ahead, if that becomes necessary, but this should not harm overall relations with Moscow. The Russians agree with the United States, he said, that Iraq is not in compliance with the United Nations resolutions. "They agree with us that they must let the inspectors go back to work, do their job, open the sites. They want a diplomatic solution. I want a diplomatic solution. I have bent over backwards for months now to try to achieve a diplomatic solution. I am still working with the Russians, the French, the United Nations, anybody, to try to find a diplomatic solution," Clinton said. "The difference here is that I simply do not believe it is acceptable to permit Iraq to walk away from its obligations. Because what we want to do is to significantly diminish the capacity of the Iraqis to reconstitute, to develop, to deploy their weapons of mass destruction and to threaten their neighbors. That is the difference. "We don't believe it is acceptable, if diplomacy fails, to walk away. And our relationship with Russia is very important to us, my relationship with President Yeltsin has been very productive and I believe we have advanced the cause of world peace in substantial ways and advanced our future partnership. "But I don't think you can have a United Nations set of resolutions about something this important to the future of the world and simply walk away if diplomacy fails. And so, that's the rub. But we're going to keep working with the Russians and with everybody else. We're trying to find a diplomatic solution. And I hope that whatever happens, that our relationships with Russia will continue to be productive and strong, because that's very important to the future of our people," Clinton said. Asked by a reporter if push comes to shove, are you going to be able to go forward, if Russia says 'Nyet', Clinton said "'Nyet' is not 'No' for the United States under these circumstances." Asked how close the United States is to having its troops in harm's way in Iraq, Clinton said "we are simply doing what we always do under circumstances like this. We're taking the necessary steps that you would expect the United States to take."
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