United States Senate
Office of the Majority Leader
Washington DC
The President December 16, 1998
The White House
Washington DC
Dear Mr. President,
As you know, many of us in the Congress have been increasingly concerned
over a perceived drift in U.S. policy toward Iraq. In three separate
legislative vehicles in 1998 alone, the Congress appropriated funds to
support the Iraqi opposition. You signed each of these bills. The
Congress also spoke innumerable times to the issue of Iraqi
intransigence and non-compliance with U.N. resolutions, calling on your
Administration to act in supporting the indictment of Saddam Hussein as
a war criminal and to support efforts to end his reign of terror.
Your decision to sign and fully implement the Iraq Liberation Act (P.L.
105-338) appeared to be the change of course many of us had urged. We
welcomed your November 15, 1998 pledge to work "with Congress to
implement the Iraq Liberation Act [and] to do what we can to make the
opposition a more effective voice for the aspirations of the Iraqi
people." Unfortunately, it appears that your commitment to support the
political opposition to Saddam Hussein has not trickled down through the
Administration.
Despite your clear expression of the need for "a new government" in
Baghdad, Secretary of Defense Cohen has stated that you were "not
calling for the overthrow of Saddam Hussein". Earlier, General Anthony
Zinni, the Commander in Chief of the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM),
reportedly stated that "I don't see the parts [of the Iraq Liberation
Act] that make it sensible," adding that he sees no "viable" Iraqi
opposition. Though his statements were made prior to your signing the
Iraq Liberation Act into law, CENTCOM officials have continued to
denigrate the ILA and the Iraqi opposition in briefings to other U.S.
government agencies and on Capitol Hill.
Mr. President, change in Baghdad will not come about with the signature
of a bill alone. Government agencies, in particular the Departments of
State and Defense, must end their foot-dragging and gear up to implement
the law consistent with your public statements. A viable and capable
opposition is the most logical means of doing just that. Yet despite the
fact that Congress has appropriated $13 million toward those ends, only
Radio Free Iraq is up and running in a limited fashion. Of the remaining
$8 million appropriated to support the opposition and mount a war-crimes
campaign, only $58,000 has been expended.
We urge you and your Administration to move swiftly to designate a group
such as the Iraqi National Congress under the terms of the Iraq
Liberation Act. As part of the designation process, and in the interest
of encouraging an array of opposition groups to unite under one
umbrella, we encourage you to provide clear and unequivocal logistical
and political support to groups invited to attend the Executive
Committee meeting of the Iraqi National Congress. We urge you and your
officials to make clear U.S. government support, commitments and
guarantees to ensure that, once reconvened, the members of the Iraqi
National Congress have no doubt about our policy.
Saddam Hussein constitutes a serious, long-term threat to the United
States and to our allies. We welcomed National Security Adviser Berger's
December 8, 1998 statement that containment of Iraq is not necessarily
"sustainable over the long run . . . Our policy toward Iraq is to
contain Saddam, but also to oppose him." Administration officials must
be engaged in this effort at the highest levels. Despite the State
Department's announcement of support for the convening of the Iraqi
National Congress, INC officials have held no meetings above the
assistant secretary level. And notwithstanding provisions in the Iraq
Liberation Act for drawdown of military assistance subsequent to the
designation of an opposition group and groups, we have been told that
neither the Office of the Secretary of Defense nor the Joint Staff have
even begun work on plans for drawdown, equipping or training the
opposition. Secretary of State Albright, Secretary of Defense Cohen and
National Security Adviser Berger have not met with retired General Wayne
Downing--whom they know has spent considerable time preparing detailed
plans to equip, arm and train opposition forces willing to work for the
liberation of Iraq.
Finally, the campaign to indict Saddam Hussein as a war criminal is key
to international recognition of the need to replace Saddam. Your
Administration has publicly supported such indictment since 1993. We
urge the immediate provision of funding to the INDICT campaign against
Saddam Hussein. As time passes it becomes more and more difficult to
gather information. INDICT is ready to move and has received verbal
commitments from your Administration. Yet despite promises, not one
penny has been provided. INDICT has even had to expend its own severely
limited funds to travel to Washington to meet with your officials.
Surely this non-controversial campaign to indict, arrest and try one of
our century's most vile dictators deserves the financial support
Congress intended and your Administration has promised.
Mr. President, you have at least $110 million in funding and drawdown
authority at your fingertips. You have our support in working to help
revive a confident and viable opposition. We believe that only the
fullest and most vigorous implementation of the Iraq Liberation Act will
hasten the end of Saddam Hussein's regime. We look forward to
cooperating with you in this effort.
Sincerely,
Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott
Foreign Relation Committee Chairman Jesse Helms
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Shelby
Senator John Kyl
Senator Richard Lugar
Senator Sam Brownback
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
