23 February 1998
CLINTON HOPES IRAQ WILL HONOR ARMS INSPECTION AGREEMENT
(Warns of "serious consequences" if Iraq does not comply) (780) By Wendy S. Ross USIA White House Correspondent Washington -- President Clinton says he hopes the agreement on arms inspections signed February 23 in Baghdad by Iraq's Saddam Hussein and United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan "will prove to be the step forward we have been looking for, but the proof is in the testing." Clinton cautioned that a number of issues still need to be clarified and details of the agreement to be spelled out. This, he said, will occur February 24 when the Secretary General returns to New York and briefs the UN Security Council on the agreement. Clinton made the remarks the afternoon of February 23 in the Oval Office of the White House, after meeting with his top national security advisors and speaking by phone the evening of February 22 with Secretary General Annan in Baghdad and February 23 with Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair, Russian Federation President Boris Yeltsin and French President Jacques Chirac. The President said the agreement gives the United Nations Special Commission on Iraq (UNSCOM) "immediate, unrestricted, unconditional" access to all potential weapons sites in Iraq, including the eight so-called presidential sites included in the areas Saddam had previously said were off limits. "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," Clinton said. "And Iraq has committed that all other areas, facilities, equipment, records, and means of transportation shall be open to UNSCOM under existing procedures," he said, including sites that were previously closed. "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 President said. "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." Clinton emphasized, however, that "if Iraq fails to comply this time there will be serious consequences. "I have ordered our military to remain in the Persian Gulf," he said. "Our soldiers, our ships, our planes will stay there in force until we are satisfied that Iraq is complying with its commitments." The United States has some 34,000 troops in the region and two aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf. Clinton said if Iraq "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." The President said "What really matters is Iraqi'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." The main thing we need to do now, he said, "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 (Saddam) might still have." 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. Following the President's Oval Office statement, White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry told reporters that the President had made very clear that the military preparations that we have underway will continue. More than 25 nations have indicated their willingness to help as part of this international effort in the Gulf, McCurry pointed out. In answer to a question, the Press Secretary said the White House would welcome a resolution of support from Congress for America's troops in the Gulf region. Asked if Clinton would travel to California later in the week as planned, McCurry said the President was assessing his travel plans on a day-by-day basis.
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