UNITED24 - Make a charitable donation in support of Ukraine!

Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

USIS Washington File

23 February 1998

TRANSCRIPT: CLINTON REMARKS ON UN-IRAQI AGREEMENT FEBRUARY 23

(Warns of "serious consequences" if Iraq fails to comply) (2360)
Washington -- President Clinton has welcomed the agreement Iraqi
President Saddam Hussein signed February 23 in Baghdad with UN
Secretary General Kofi Annan, saying he hopes it will be prove to be
"the step forward we have all been looking for."
But, Clinton cautioned, "the proof is in the testing." He said some
issues still need to be clarified and some details need to be spelled
out. This, he said, will occur February 24 when Secretary General
Annan returns to New York and briefs the UN Security Council on the
agreement.
He also warned that if the new agreement is acceptable to all parties
and Iraq fails to comply with its provisions, "this time there will be
will be serious consequences." He said he has ordered U.S. forces to
remain in the Persian Gulf "until we are satisfied that Iraq is
complying with its commitments."
Clinton made the remarks the afternoon of February 23 as he met with
reporters in the Oval Office at the White House.
Flanking the President as he spoke were Vice President Al Gore,
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, U.S. Ambassador to the United
Nations Bill Richardson, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General
Henry "Hugh" Shelton, National Security Advisor Samuel "Sandy" Berger,
and Leon Feurth, the Vice President's national security affairs
advisor.
Clinton said the agreement gives the United Nations Commission in Iraq
to monitor weapons compliance (UNSCOM) "immediate, unrestricted,
unconditional" access to inspect all suspected weapons sites in Iraq,
including the eight so-called presidential sites that Saddam had
previously said were off limits. Senior UN diplomats would be allowed
to accompany the UNSCOM inspectors, Clinton said.
"If fully implemented -- and that is the big if -- this commitment
will allow UNSCOM to fulfill its mission -- first, to find and destroy
all of Iraq's chemical, biological and nuclear weapons; second, to
find and destroy the missiles to deliver those weapons; and third, to
institute a system for long term monitoring to make sure Iraq does not
build more," Clinton said.
"What really matters," Clinton said, "is Iraq's compliance not its
stated commitments."
Following is the White House transcript:
(begin transcript)
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
February 23, 1998
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT ON IRAQ
The Oval Office
THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon. Let me say first that I welcome U.N.
Secretary General Annan's mission to Baghdad. I thank him and his team
for their hard work on behalf of the international community.
I also want to commend each and every one of our men and women in
uniform, and our coalition partners for their steadfastness. Once
again, we have seen that diplomacy must be backed by strength and
resolve.
The government of Iraq has made a written commitment to provide
immediate, unrestricted, unconditional access for the UNSCOM weapons
inspectors to all suspect sites in Iraq, as called for by the United
Nations Security Council resolutions. If fully implemented -- and that
is the big "if" -- this commitment will allow UNSCOM to fulfill its
mission: first, to find and destroy all of Iraq's chemical, biological
and nuclear weapons; second, to find and destroy the missiles to
deliver those weapons; and third, to institute a system for long-term
monitoring to make sure Iraq does not build more.
The Secretary General has made clear that Iraq's commitment applies to
all sites anywhere in the country, including eight so-called
presidential sites, which are among the areas to which the weapons
inspectors had previously been denied access.
Senior diplomats appointed by the Secretary General will accompany the
UNSCOM experts as they inspect these sites, with repeat visits and no
deadlines to complete their work. And Iraq has committed that all
other areas, facilities, equipment, records, and means of
transportation shall be open to UNSCOM under existing procedures.
Again, this includes sites that were previously closed.
There are issues that still need to be clarified to our satisfaction
and details that need to be spelled out. We will hear from the
Secretary General tomorrow on these questions, and we will work with
him and with UNSCOM to make sure the inspections are rigorous and
professional.
What really matters is Iraq's compliance, not its stated commitments;
not what Iraq says, but what it does. In the days and weeks ahead,
UNSCOM must test and verify.
After two crises in the last four months, Iraq's failure to allow
UNSCOM to do its job would be a serious, serious matter. If Iraq fails
to comply this time to provide immediate, unrestricted, unconditional
access to the weapons inspectors, there will be serious consequences.
I have ordered our military to remain in the Persian Gulf. Our
soldiers, our ships, our planes will stay there in force until we are
satisfied that Iran is complying -- that Iraq is complying with its
commitments.
If the inspectors are allowed to inspect where and when they want,
then they are the most effective tool we have to monitor Iraq's
compliance with the commitment it made at the end of the Gulf War, to
give up all of its biological, chemical and nuclear weapons, the
missiles to deliver them, and the capacity to rebuild its arsenal.
I hope today's agreement will prove to be the step forward we have
been looking for. But the proof is in the testing. The United States
remains resolved and ready to secure by whatever means necessary
Iraq's full compliance with its commitment to destroy its weapons of
mass destruction.
Thank you.
QUESTION: Mr. President, what makes you think that you will be -- you
won't be in this position a year from now, two years from now, three
years from now? What in the preliminary details makes you comfortable,
or at least somewhat comfortable at this stage?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I've already said I don't know whether we'll be
in a position of breach by Iraq within a year. All I said is that I
think it is now clear, based on my conversations with Prime Minister
Blair, President Chirac, President Yeltsin, and what we in our own
team believe. No one seriously believes that there can be a breach of
this agreement by Iraq without serious consequences.
But I will say this is the first time -- at least since 1991 -- that
Iraq has made a commitment to unconditional, open, unfettered access
to all the sites, not only these presidential sites there's been so
much talk about, but also some other so-called sensitive sites that
have been off limits.
So if the inspection system is allowed to go forward -- we know from
the record that the UNSCOM inspectors have compiled in the last seven
years that the system works. And if we can find a peaceful means for
the system to work to secure the safety of the people in the region,
the neighbors of Iraq and others that might be menaced in the future
by its weapons of mass destruction, that is what we have been seeking.
Q: Mr. President, if Iraq does not keep its word this time, do we go
through this exercise of weeks and weeks and weeks again?
THE PRESIDENT: I believe if it does not keep its word this time,
everyone would understand that then the United States and hopefully
all of our allies would have the unilateral right to respond at a
time, place and manner of our own choosing. And I think that's enough
for me to say about that at this time.
Q: Mr. President, you said before that he's lied and he's cheated. Do
you think that you can trust him this time? What's your expectation? I
know that you say you're going to take a wait and see attitude.
THE PRESIDENT: First of all, that is true. But I've also said before
that when the UNSCOM inspectors have been allowed to do their job,
even when there's been some cat-and-mouse games over there, they have
succeeded beyond anyone's expectations. You just have to look at the
volume of stuff they've uncovered and destroyed to know that.
Therefore, this should not be a question of trust. First we need
clarity. We need to clarify some of the remaining questions about the
agreement to our satisfaction. Clarity is important. And in fairness,
all parties, even Saddam Hussein -- all the parties are entitled to
that: clarity. Then we need to test the agreement and verify that the
commitments which are made in writing are kept in fact. So trust
should not have to be an issue here. If you have clarity, then you can
verify.
So over the next two days we have a very -- all Americans should have
a positive reaction to the fact that we finally have a commitment to
open all these sites and to let the inspectors finish their job. We
need clarity. We need verification. And I intend to keep our forces at
high levels of preparation in the Gulf in the near-term to see what
happens in terms of honoring these obligations.
Q: Mr. President, Senator Lott says you lack a long-term strategy for
handling Iraq. How do you respond to that, sir?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, since 1991, our strategy has been to keep the
sanctions on, keep Iraq from rebuilding its military might and
threatening its neighbors, but to pursue this inspection system to end
what is the biggest threat both to its neighbors and to others by
indirection, which is the chemical, the biological, and the nuclear
weapons program. That has been our strategy all along. Whether that
should continue to be our strategy depends in no small measure I
believe on whether this agreement is honored.
Q:  Sir, is there any wiggle room --
Q:  Has Saddam capitulated, sir?
THE PRESIDENT:  I'll answer both questions.
Q:  Has Saddam Hussein capitulated?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think he has admitted that he has to honor
commitments he made back in '91. You know, I think that our tough
response was essential to getting him to admit that. The Secretary
General has conducted a hard mission. I am satisfied that he has done
the best he can. And I am satisfied that we would not have this
commitment to open all these spots had not the United States and our
allies -- and there were lots of them, don't forget -- been prepared
to go further and to take whatever actions were necessary.
But the main thing we need to do now is to focus on clarifying the
details of the agreement to our satisfaction, then going ahead and
testing it and verifying the commitment. I think that is the most
useful thing. What we want here is to secure the safety of the people
who would be exposed to chemical and biological weapons and to
whatever nuclear capacity that he might still have.
You know, the United States -- I think I should point this out, it's
not been part of my statement, but the United States -- and Ambassador
Richardson was there carrying the ball for us -- we strongly supported
expanding the program under Resolution 986 in the Security Council to
let Iraq sell even more oil to go for food, to lift the Iraqi children
above the minimum caloric requirement for all growing children in the
world, to build 5,000 more schools, to put a lot more medicine into
that country, to rebuild the water and sewer systems and the
agriculture system. We care a lot about the people of Iraq and we want
them to have a decent life. But we must still be vigilant and
steadfast about this regime.
This is -- and I say again, one of you asked me this question -- this
is not about trusting. First we need to be clear on what it means. And
he needs to be clear on what it means. And then we need to see whether
it is enforced. And if it is, fine. If it's not, then the alternative
will be a clear course of action to everyone in the world.
Q: Is there any wiggle room in this agreement? Because even before you
spoke some of your critics predicted that you would buy an agreement
that was not air-tight simply as a way out.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think it's obvious that I haven't looked for a
way out here. What I have looked for is a way forward. The United
States, because of our position in the world, is called upon to bring
its power to bear when it's important to do so. But we also should
have the self-confidence and the conscience to show forbearance as
well as strength, and to do what is right.
The objective is unassailable, and he has agreed to the objective,
which is full and free and unfettered access. I have told you -- not
my critics, I have told you -- that there are details in this
agreement that still have to be flushed out, and there are provisions
in it which require greater clarity, and we have to have those things
resolved to our satisfaction in order to go forward.
But my instinct is, talking to the Secretary General and talking to
our partners, that we can resolve those things to our satisfaction.
I'm hoping that we can, but I am not prejudging it. Ambassador
Richardson has got his work cut out for him tomorrow, and the rest of
our team will be working closely with him. We'll see what we're doing.
Q: Can you give us examples of those things where maybe you need
clarification that could provide a problem?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, we'll do that at the proper time. The Secretary
General has asked to have the opportunity -- and I think he's entitled
to it -- to present the memorandum of understanding to the Security
Council before the rest of us comment on the details. And I think that
he is entitled to that. He's worked very hard. He's had very little
sleep in the last several days. And I'm going to honor his request to
that.
Thank you.
(end transcript)




NEWSLETTER
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list