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20 December 1998

• 'LAUNCHING A FORWARD STRATEGY OF CONTAINMENT FOR SADDAM' EDITED TRANSCRIPT OF AN INTERVIEW GIVEN BY THE FOREIGN SECRETARY, MR ROBIN COOK, FOR GMTV, LONDON, SUNDAY, 20 DECEMBER 1998 "We are quite clear that the military campaign will have been effective in setting back Saddam's programmes for weapons of terror by several years and by sharply removing his capacity to threaten his neighbours with a military machine that keeps him in power... we cannot invite his people to rise up against Saddam because we know the terribleconsequences for them were they to fail... there are no sanctions against food and medicines for Iraq. If the Iraqi people go short of these things, it is because of Saddam, not because of sanctions..."
• TRANSCRIPT: ALBRIGHT ON OUTCOME OF IRAQ ACTION NBC-TV's "MEET THE PRESS" WITH TIM RUSSERT 20 December 1998 -- Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said that the destruction inflicted on most of the targets Saddam Hussein "holds the most dear" were "heavy and devastating. "There were nine missile R&D facilities hit; 18 out of 19 of his weapons of mass destruction security assets -- that's the Republican Guard and his special concealment units -- were destroyed; 20 out of 21 command and control areas -- 20 -- were damaged severely or destroyed; and eight palaces," Albright said.
• TRANSCRIPT: INDYK INTERVIEW ON CNN SPECIAL REPORT ON IRAQ 20 December 1998 -- Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Martin Indyk says damage to U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East as a result of the air strikes against Iraq has been "very limited." Speaking in an interview December 20 on a CNN Special Report on Iraq, Indyk also said the four-day military operation against Iraq succeeded in weakening Saddam.
• "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED," SECSTATE ALBRIGHT SAYS OF "DESERT FOX" By Jane A. Morse USIA 20 December 1998 -- Four nights of air strikes against Iraq have accomplished their mission, says Secretary of State Albright. "We have accomplished what we needed to," the Secretary said in a televised interview December 20 on NBC's "Meet the Press."
• Iraq skies fall silent as Desert Fox ends : 20 Dec 1998 Air Force Print News -- WASHINGTON -- After launching hundreds of cruise missiles and dropping untold tons of bombs from allied aircraft, the Operation Desert Fox assault against Iraqi military targets ended Dec. 19.
• BERGER SAYS "OPERATION DESERT FOX" WAS "CLEARLY" A BLOW TO IRAQ By Ed Taishoff USIA 20 December 1998 -- President Clinton's National Security Advisor Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger says Saddam Hussein's claim of victory in the aftermath of the "Desert Fox" aerial offensive against him "was a bit of whistling past the graveyard."
• SHELTON SAYS SADDAM WILL BE "OUT OF BUSINESS FOR AT LEAST A YEAR" By Susan Ellis USIA 20 December 1998 -- Saddam Hussein will "be out of business for at least a year," insofar as implementing his missile research and development program after US-British airstrikes destroyed nine targets, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Hugh Shelton said in an interview on ABC's "This Week" December 20.
• UNSCOM'S BUTLER SAYS IRAQ IS A NON-PROLIFERATION CHEAT By Susan Ellis USIA 20 December 1998 -- Chief United Nations weapons inspector Richard Butler flatly denied during a December 20 CNN interview charges that he colluded with the United States when he reported to UN Secretary General Annan on Iraq's failure to comply with arms inspections.
• U-S / IRAQ Voice of America 20 December 1998 -- U-S OFFICIALS SAY THEY UNDERSTAND THAT SADDAM HUSSEIN MAY NEVER ALLOW U-N WEAPONS INSPECTORS BACK IN THE COUNTRY, BUT THEY DEFEND AIRSTRIKES AGAINST IRAQ, SAYING THE REGION IS NOW A SAFER PLACE.
• ALBRIGHT / FOREIGN POLICY Voice of America 20 December 1998 -- SECRETARY OF STATE MADELEINE ALBRIGHT HAS AGAIN REJECTED SUGGESTIONS PRESIDENT CLINTON ORDERED THE BOMBING OF IRAQ TO DIVERT ATTENTION FROM DOMESTIC TROUBLES. SHE SAYS THE IMPEACHMENT DRIVE IN CONGRESS HAS NOT AFFECTED THE PRESIDENT'S INTERNATIONAL CREDIBILITY.
• ALBRIGHT / SADDAM Voice of America 20 December 1998 -- SECRETARY OF STATE ALBRIGHT SAYS 70-HOURS OF BOMBING LEFT SADDAM HUSSEIN IN A WEAKER POSITION BECAUSE MANY OF HIS MOST IMPORTANT MILITARY FACILITIES HAVE BEEN DESTROYED.
• ALBRIGHT / SANCTIONS Voice of America 20 December 1998 -- SECRETARY OF STATE MADELEINE ALBRIGHT SAYS IT IS UNLIKELY SADDAM HUSSEIN WILL EVER COMPLY WITH U-N SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS, AND SHE EXPECTS ECONOMIC SANCTIONS AGAINST IRAQ TO REMAIN IN PLACE.
• BLAIR / IRAQ Voice of America 20 December 1998 -- BRITISH PRIME MINISTER TONY BLAIR SAYS OPERATION DESERT FOX HAS DIMINISHED SADDAM HUSSEIN'S THREAT TO HIS NEIGHBORS. BUT HE SAYS BRITAIN IS READY TO STRIKE AGAIN TO CONTAIN THE IRAQI LEADER.
• IRAQ / FRANCE Voice of America 20 December 1998 -- FRANCE HAS WELCOMED THE END OF THE AMERICAN-LED BOMBARDMENTS OF IRAQ AND IS CALLING FOR MEASURES TO EASE ECONOMIC SANCTIONS AGAINST BAGHDAD TO END THE SUFFERING OF THE IRAQI PEOPLE.
• SADDAM SPEECH Baghdad INA 1505 GMT 20 Dec 98 - Our great people, gallant men of our valiant Armed Forces, and glorious women in the Iraq of glory, jihad, and virtue. You are now in the fifth day after the night of 16-17 December, when a new aggression was started by the enemies of God and the nation. With it, resistance and combat started once again in the course of the immortal Mother of Battles. God has wanted it to be a source of honor, pride, glory, and blessing for you in this life and in the hereafter.
• IRAQ STRIKES END UPDATE Voice of America 20 December 1998 -- IRAQI PRESIDENT SADDAM HUSSEIN IS PRAISING WHAT HE CALLS -- THE TRIUMPH OF THE IRAQI PEOPLE AFTER THE U-S AND BRITISH GOVERNMENTS ENDED FOUR NIGHTS OF AIR STRIKES AGAINST HIS COUNTRY.
• IRAQ STRIKES END RESIDENTS OF IRAQ ARE TRYING TO RESUME THEIR NORMAL LIVES AND PICK UP THE PIECES FROM FOUR NIGHTS OF AIR STRIKES BY U-S AND BRITISH FORCES. HOWEVER, A DEFIANT IRAQI GOVERNMENT SAID SUNDAY IT WILL NOT ALLOW THE DISPUTED U-N WEAPONS INSPECTIONS PROGRAM WHICH LED TO THE STRIKES TO RESUME.
• RUSSIA/IRAQ Voice of America 20 December 1998 -- RUSSIAN PRESIDENT BORIS YELTSIN HAS RENEWED HIS CRITICISM OF THE AIR STRIKES ON IRAQ, SAYING MILITARY ACTION HAS ONLY MADE MATTERS WORSE. BUT THE COMMENTS WERE FAR LESS CONFRONTATIONAL THAN THOSE OF EARLIER DAYS.
• ARAB/STRIKES END Voice of America 20 December 1998 -- IN THE MIDDLE EAST, ARAB COUNTRIES EXPRESSED RELIEF OVER THE ENDING OF U-S AND BRITISH ATTACKS AGAINST IRAQ. BUT MANY ARABS BLAME THEIR GOVERNMENTS FOR NOT HAVING DONE ENOUGH TO STOP THE MILITARY ACTION SOONER.
• Ramsey Clark's letter to the UN General Assembly 20 December 1998 -- No nation on earth will be sovereign while the United States with its overwhelming military capacity for destruction and its enormous economic power to control the flow of foods, medicines, capital and material necessities of life remains unrestrained from assaulting chosen enemies and impoverishing their people.