The White House Briefing Room
November 24, 1998
PRESS BRIEFING BY JOE LOCKHART
3:14 P.M. EST
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
______________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release November 24, 1998
PRESS BRIEFING BY
JOE LOCKHART
The Briefing Room
3:14 P.M. EST
.......
Q What's the deal with Iraq?
MR. LOCKHART: I know that the Security Council will be
meeting later today; Chairman Butler will be reporting to them on
the request for documents, and we look forward to getting a
report from the Security Council meeting.
Q Is the President meeting with his advisors on Iraq
later today?
MR. LOCKHART: No, not that I'm aware of.
Q -- may be a little more specific than my
colleagues here and ask --
MR. LOCKHART: I kind of like these open-ended
questions. (Laughter.)
Q Has the administration decided that the documents
that the inspectors are looking for are not worth military
action?
MR. LOCKHART: No, there's a process going on. As
we've said before, the response we've had to date is insufficient
and Chairman Butler has communicated that to the Iraqis. And
there's a process now ongoing. There's been some exchange of
correspondence. We look forward later this afternoon to getting
an update from Chairman Butler at the Security Council.
But this isn't just about documents, this is a test
that Saddam Hussein and the Iraqis have to pass about whether
UNSCOM can do their job effectively. So it's about documents,
it's about access to sensitive sites, it's about access to people
with knowledge of the program. And as we, from experience, are
very skeptical of the Iraqi government and of Saddam Hussein,
from seven years of experience, the burden of prove and the
burden of proving that they are cooperating and that they are
doing what they can to make UNSCOM effective is a very difficult
one.
Q Is the refusal to supply documents by the Iraqis
is a justification for military action?
MR. LOCKHART: I'm not going to get into here what
triggers one reaction or another, or try to put a timetable on
it, or try to put a scorecard on a day-to-day basis. I've laid
out what the policy is, which is that the Iraqis must allow
UNSCOM to do their job and be effective.
.............
Q Back on Iraq. But if they continue not to
cooperate, how are we going to get them to cooperate? I mean, is
that part of the thinking that's going on?
MR. LOCKHART: Well, again, I think one of the points I
just tried to make is I'm not going to try to do a day-to-day
scorecard of cooperation. There is a broad test here that they
have to meet that allows UNSCOM to be effective, because that's
what is at the root of the policy here. That's on a wide
spectrum of issues -- documents are certainly one of them, access
to sensitive sites, access to key personnel. They have to prove
and they have to do it affirmatively because that's the
obligations they came under by making the agreement of now 10
days ago in the letters they sent to the Security Council.
And, again, we remain very skeptical of their
intentions. And if we do believe that UNSCOM is not able to do
their job effectively, if they're not cooperating and in
compliance with U.N. Security Council resolutions, we will employ
other options.
Q Joe, just to be specific, the Post report today
about the administration having decided that the document alone
is not justification -- that's not true, that's not correct?
MR. LOCKHART: As we've said, there's a process
underway. The response to date hasn't been sufficient, but there
is a process underway on the documents, as well as on other
issues. We look forward to later on this afternoon seeing what
Chairman Butler says to the U.N. Security Council.
.................
Q Back on Iraq. Less than two weeks ago the
President stood at that podium and said unless there's strict
compliance there will be consequences. Well, there hasn't been
strict compliance and there hasn't been consequence. How can he
keep his credibility in the world today if he doesn't act?
MR. LOCKHART: Well, I think that what we have here is
an ongoing process that we are going to watch very closely and
remain very vigilant -- on a wide variety, not just documents.
As I indicated earlier in this briefing, there are a series of
issues that Iraq is going to have to affirmatively prove that
they will cooperate with in order to make UNSCOM effective. And
if they do not, if they are not able to demonstrate that then we
certainly will have to make a judgment and it certainly leaves
open the option of a military strike.
Q Joe, is the White House surprised that Saddam
Hussein is reneging some bit on his promise to give the U.N.
weapons inspectors unfettered access?
MR. LOCKHART: I don't think there's anything that
Saddam Hussein can do that would surprise anyone here at the
White House. We remain highly skeptical of any promise he makes
based on his past history. But what we're doing now is there is
a broad test that's ongoing to see if the Iraqis can demonstrate
the ability to let UNSCOM work effectively. And that's something
that's ongoing.
Q Joe, did the United States authorize the British
to give a tip-off to the Iraqis the strike would be Saturday --
MR. LOCKHART: I don't have any reason to believe
anything in that is accurate.
..................
Q Joe, on Iraq, if there is an attack, what do you
think of the future world oil supply or how the world oil supply
will affect --
MR. LOCKHART: I'm not going to speculate on the world
after an attack.
Q Back on the Iraq situation, is the White House
paying any attention to Nation of Islam Minister Farrakhan saying
that Clinton is blood-thirsty and who is he to have a right to
say if Saddam should live or die?
MR. LOCKHART: I can't say that we've put any
particular importance on Mr. Farrakhan's views.
Q Any importance on the views of Senator Lugar who
today said that we should strike now?
MR. LOCKHART: I would say that we certainly put a lot
more credence in Senator Lugar's views and I have not seen them,
but I think I've tried best I can to answer that overall question
which has come in five or six different ways.
Q Thank you.
MR. LOCKHART: Thank you.
END 3:40 P.M. EST
#022-11/24
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