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22 December 1998

• TRANSCRIPT: PICKERING BRIEFING ON IRAQ STRIKES 22 December 1998 -- Under Secretary of State Thomas Pickering says the United States would consider a further expansion of the "oil for food" program governing Iraq's imports of humanitarian products such as food and medicine. However, he emphasized that the United States would consider any effort to circumvent current UN economic sanctions against Iraq to be a "very serious" matter.
• TRANSCRIPT: PICKERING "NEWS HOUR" INTERVIEW ON IRAQ USIA 22 December 1998 -- Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Pickering says the U.S. policy on Iraq has been made very clear: "for the foreseeable future, following the military activities which were to degrade his weapons of mass destruction and his ability to threaten his neighbors, we would move to a policy of containment. That is the centerpiece of the United Nations' policy.
• TRANSCRIPT: ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH ON IRAQ POLICY 22 December 1998 -- David Welch, assistant secretary of state for international organizations and a specialist in Gulf affairs, said "Saddam has endured these sanctions for so many years, and why? It's because he must place an enormous premium on retaining this capability for his own sense of his role and power in the country and outside it. And that is the danger that we must deal with, and deal with resolutely."
• U.S. Department of State Daily Press Briefing , DECEMBER 22, 1998 -- IRAQ Issue of the Use of a Veto When Sanctions Are Reviewed Reports that UNSCOM U-2s Have Stop Flying/Monitoring Expansion of Oil-for-Food Program Regulating WMD U.S. Looking into Reports of Stray Missile
• PICKERING SAYS IRAQ COULD FACE "SANCTIONS IN PERPETUITY" By Peter Sawchyn USIA 22 December 1998 -- Iraq will face "sanctions in perpetuity" unless it agrees to work with UN weapons inspectors to demonstrate that it has fulfilled its post-Gulf War pledges to eliminate its weapons of mass destruction, according to Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas R. Pickering.
• U-S/IRAQ-U-N Voice of America 22 December 1998 -- THE UNITED STATES IS WILLING TO CONSIDER EXPANDING THE IRAQI OIL-FOR-FOOD PROGRAM, IF THE UNITED NATIONS FINDS IT NECESSARY. BUT IRAQ HAS YET TO TAKE FULL ADVANTAGE OF THE CURRENT PROGRAM.
• U-N / IRAQ DISCUSSIONS Voice of America 22 December 1998 -- THE UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL HELD TALKS TUESDAY ON A RUSSIAN PROPOSAL THAT WOULD AUTHORIZE AN OVERALL ASSESSMENT OF THE SITUATION CONCERNING IRAQ. THE ASSESSMENT WOULD BE USED IN DEVELOPING A NEW STRATEGY FOR MONITORING IRAQ'S ARMS PROGRAM.
• RUSSIA/U-S Voice of America 22 December 1998 -- RUSSIA'S AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED STATES WILL RETURN TO WASHINGTON LESS THAN A WEEK AFTER HE WAS RECALLED IN PROTEST OVER U-S/BRITISH AIR STRIKES ON IRAQ. THE U-S/RUSSIA RELATIONSHIP IS RETURNING TO NORMAL.
• RESULTS OF BOMBING IRAQ Voice of America 22 December 1998 -- WHAT DID THE U-S LED ATTACK ON IRAQ ACCOMPLISH? THAT QUESTION WAS DISCUSSED AT A WASHINGTON CONFERENCE, AND THE ANSWERS VARIED FROM PARTIAL SUCCESS TO NONE AT ALL. ELIOT COHEN, OF THE SCHOOL OF ADVANCED INTERNATIONAL STUDIES AT JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY, SAID IRAQ HAS FEW REMAINING WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION TO DESTROY. NOR COULD THE UNITED STATES ELIMINATE THEM ALL UNLESS IT WANTS TO DENY PESTICIDES TO IRAQ AND ABOLISH SCHOOL LABORATORIES.
• ASSESSING THE ATTACK ON IRAQ Voice of America 22 December 1998 -- THE NATION'S NEWS MEDIA IS CLOSELY ANALYZING THE RESULTS OF FOUR DAYS OF INTENSIVE MISSILE AND AIRCRAFT ATTACKS ON IRAQ. SOME PAPERS ARE SAYING WHATEVER THE ATTACKS ACCOMPLISHED, THE PROBLEM OF SADDAM HUSSEIN AND HIS COVERT WEAPONS-BUILDING PROGRAM REMAINS, AND SEVERAL SAY IT TIME FOR A POLICY REASSESSMENT.
• IRAQ ATTACK DENIED Voice of America 22 December 1998 -- PENTAGON OFFICIALS STRONGLY DENY IRAQI NEWS REPORTS THAT U-S AIRCRAFT FIRED MISSILES OVER SOUTHERN IRAQ.
• Desert Fox commander calls mission a success : 22 Dec 1998 Air Force Print News -- In light of the success of the airstrikes on Iraq, the Operation Desert Fox commander said the attack on Iraq saved lives. Marine Corps Gen. Anthony Zinni, commander-in-chief, U.S. Central Command, told reporters in the Pentagon Dec. 21 that the fast and furious attack deterred potential chemical and biological harm to allied forces in the region.
• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL 22 December 1998 - Yesterday, the independent inspection agents from the Lloyds Register had returned to work at the port of Umm Qasr and Al-Walid, along the shared border with Syria. By last night, the inspection agents had cleared the backlog of 34 trucks at Al-Walid, and, this morning, they had resumed work at Trebil, on the border with Jordan, where the backlog of some 100 trucks was being cleared.
• U.S. Says 85% of Iraqi Targets Were Hit By STEVEN LEE MYERS The New York Times (December 22) -- In the fullest military assessment since the bombing of Iraq ended, the American commander who led four days of strikes said Monday that American and British forces hit 85 percent of their targets and badly damaged the Republican Guards.
• Envoys Ask U.S. to Relax on Checking Atomic Arms By BARBARA CROSSETTE The New York Times (December 22) -- The Clinton administration, under pressure to make some concession to other Security Council members after the bombing of Iraq, may be willing to consider closing the file on nuclear inspections, diplomats and independent arms control experts said Monday.
• Baghdad Frozen in Time by Years of Sanctions By STEPHEN KINZER The New York Times (December 22) -- Iraq is a nation frozen in time, and the recent wave of American and British bombing seems to have done nothing that would hasten a thaw.