U.S. Department of State

Daily Press Briefing

MR. FOLEY: Yes. It's an astonishing claim that is simply untrue and not borne out in any way by the facts. The Iraqi Government has been making similar grossly exaggerated and inconsistent claims for some time. In fact, the facts are that in recent months, the United Nations is reporting real improvements in the humanitarian situation in Iraq, particularly in the areas of nutrition and the availability of clean water. For example, the Red Cross recently found far fewer malnourished children to participate in a supplemental feeding program than expected, even after increasing the maximum weight criteria.

Since the sanctions were first implemented, the UN has always permitted the import of food and medicine to Iraq, and you're very familiar with that. For years, however, instead of buying the food and medicine as people need, Saddam has spent his money on palaces and on other attributes of the privileged leadership in Iraq. In fact, what Saddam has been doing is trying to exploit the suffering of his people to achieve his political ends. It's as if he were saying to the international community - I'll feed my people, or I'll let you feed my people if you let me keep my weapons of mass destruction.

So in order to insure that the Iraqi people do not suffer because of this tactic by their leader, the United States pressed for the establishment of an oil-for-food program since 1991. And we've said this many times, so I'm not going to go over all of it, but, of course, it took five years - until 1996 - that Iraq agreed and allowed the UN to implement what is now the most extensive relief program in its history. It's already delivered some 6.3 million tons of food in the last 18 months. In the fourth phase of the program, now being implemented, it potentially provides an additional $5.2 billion in relief to the Iraqi people. Of course, the UN has also authorized expenditures to rehabilitate Iraq's oil production capabilities so it can meet this output target and generate funds that the UN will monitor that will go to feed and provide medical and other needed relief to the Iraqi people.

Again, the UN is taking these actions because Saddam has consistently impeded the implementation of oil-for-food and chosen to spend what money is available to him to support his entourage and build empty monuments to himself. So the international community is taking the responsibility of caring for the Iraqi people and taking -- I might add parenthetically - the argument away from Saddam Hussein that he needs sanctions relief in order to feed his people.