DATE= MARCH 10, 1998
TYPE= EDITORIAL
NUMBER= 0-07683
TITLE= EDITORIAL: IRAQ'S USE OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS
CONTENT=THIS IS THE ONLY EDITORIAL BEING RELEASED FOR BROADCAST
MARCH 10, 1998.
ANNCR:
THE VOICE OF AMERICA PRESENTS DIFFERING POINTS OF VIEW ON A WIDE
VARIETY OF ISSUES. NEXT, AN EDITORIAL EXPRESSING THE POLICIES OF
THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT.
VOICE:
CHEMICAL WEAPONS WERE FIRST USED IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR. THE
EFFECTS WERE SO GHASTLY THAT IN 1925 MOST NATIONS AGREED NEVER TO
USE THEM AGAIN. WITH LIMITED EXCEPTIONS, THIS BAN HELD UNTIL THE
1980S. IT WAS THEN THAT SADDAM HUSSEIN'S IRAQ BEGAN USING
CHEMICAL WEAPONS IN ITS WAR AGAINST IRAN.
IN 1984, IRAQ BECAME THE FIRST NATION TO USE A NERVE AGENT ON
THE BATTLEFIELD WHEN IT DEPLOYED TABUN-FILLED BOMBS. TABUN KILLS
WITHIN MINUTES. MORE THAN FIVE-THOUSAND IRANIANS WERE KILLED
WITH THIS CHEMICAL WEAPON. IN ADDITION, SOME SIXTEEN-THOUSAND
IRANIANS WERE REPORTED KILLED BY IRAQI MUSTARD GAS BETWEEN AUGUST
1983 AND FEBRUARY 1986. THE VICTIMS OF SADDAM'S CHEMICAL WEAPONS
ATTACKS ALSO INCLUDED HUNDREDS OF IRAQI KURDS -- MEN, WOMEN AND
CHILDREN -- GRUESOMELY KILLED IN THE TOWN OF HALABJA IN MARCH
1988.
THE WORLD WAS SLOW TO RECOGNIZE THE MENACE OF IRAQI CHEMICAL
WEAPONS. BUT AFTER THE INVASION OF KUWAIT WAS REVERSED IN 1991,
THE UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL INSISTED THAT IRAQ ELIMINATE
ALL ITS PROGRAMS TO PRODUCE CHEMICAL, BIOLOGICAL, OR NUCLEAR
WEAPONS AND THE BALLISTIC MISSILES TO DELIVER THEM. SINCE THEN,
U-N WEAPONS INSPECTORS HAVE UNCOVERED AND DESTROYED MASSIVE
AMOUNTS OF CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL WEAPONRY -- DESPITE IRAQI
EFFORTS TO OBSTRUCT THEIR WORK. BUT THE INSPECTORS ESTIMATE THAT
IRAQ STILL HAS ENOUGH MATERIAL TO FILL SOME THIRTY THOUSAND
ARTILLERY SHELLS AND ROCKETS WITH NERVE GAS AND MUSTARD GAS.
IRAQ COULD ALSO PRODUCE LARGE QUANTITIES OF ANTHRAX AND OTHER
DEADLY BIOLOGICAL AGENTS.
AN IRAQ ARMED WITH SUCH WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION POSES AN
UNACCEPTABLE RISK TO THE REST OF THE WORLD. THAT IS WHY, AS
PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON SAID, "IRAQ MUST FULFILL -- WITHOUT
OBSTRUCTION OR DELAY -- ITS COMMITMENT TO OPEN ALL OF THE NATION
TO THE INTERNATIONAL WEAPONS INSPECTORS -- ANY PLACE, ANYTIME,
WITHOUT ANY CONDITIONS, DEADLINES, EXCUSES." AS THE U-N SECURITY
COUNCIL MADE CLEAR IN ITS LATEST RESOLUTION, "ANY VIOLATION WOULD
HAVE SEVEREST CONSEQUENCES FOR IRAQ."
ANNCR:
THAT WAS AN EDITORIAL EXPRESSING THE POLICIES OF THE UNITED
STATES GOVERNMENT. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE HEARD ON THIS ISSUE,
PLEASE WRITE TO EDITORIALS, VOICE OF AMERICA, WASHINGTON, D-C,
20547, U-S-A. YOU MAY ALSO SEND YOUR COMMENTS THROUGH OUR
INTERNET SITE AT WWW-DOT-VOA-DOT-GOV-SLASH-EDITORIALS, OR SEND US
A FAX AT (202) 619-1043. YOUR COMMENTS MAY BE USED ON THE AIR.
09-Mar-98 1:55 PM EST (1855 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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