U.S. Department of State
Daily Press Briefing
INDEX
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1999
Briefer: JAMES P. RUBIN
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IRAQ |
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7-8,9 |
UN Resolution / Oil for Food Program / Weapons of Mass Destruction Issue |
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8-9 |
Prospects of Reduction of World Oil Supply |
US DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING
DPB #143
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1999, 12:45 P.M.
(ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED
QUESTION: Jamie, Iraq sent the oil markets into a bit of a spin when it said that it would reduce the amount of oil it would export, and this has obviously been a subject with a lot of interest up at the UN for a number of reasons. I wonder if you could bring us up to date on what -
MR. RUBIN: On the UN resolution, let me say this. What Iraq did was to create an interruption in the revenues flowing to the UN's Oil for Food Program. But there will be no immediate impact on the humanitarian situation, because there is a full pipeline of humanitarian goods that have been contracted for and are on their way to Iraq.
What this is really about is Iraq flouting the international community, and imagining that cynical political devices are more important for their objectives than providing the maximum revenue to provide food and medicine to their people. In short, not only is Iraq using cynical devices to thwart this program, but they are also obstructing the actual distribution of food and medicine.
With respect to the weapons of mass destruction issue, the United States has been working constructively with a number of countries, and we are working closely with the British and the Dutch on their draft resolution that is now getting increasing support of the Security Council, which we hope will reestablish the maximum consensus possible in the Security Council, to send inspectors back to Iraq and to require those inspectors to be able to do their jobs.
QUESTION: Have there been any contacts with US allies which are oil producers to compensate for the lack of Iraqi oil?
MR. RUBIN: To compensate? Well, again, I think you shouldn't exaggerate the significance of this. Iraq, many times in the last five years, has said that they would stop pumping oil, or wouldn't accept a resolution, or wouldn't actually implement it, or delayed its implementation. These are political maneuvers that come up time and time again but, in the end, we believe that the Oil for Food Program is a way for the international community to make clear that Iraq must provide the food and medicine it claims it wants, and can only do that through the Oil for Food Program.
With respect to world oil supplies, we think that any reduction in world oil supplies tends to increase short-term prices. And I would note that Iraq's production is one of many factors in determining world oil supplies, and I think that it is fair to point out that the oil price was going up considerably well before the Iraqi announcement yesterday.
QUESTION: Do you think the markets have overreacted?
MR. RUBIN: I don't intend to say anything to question the wisdom of the markets, other than to say that we will continue to make clear that the way for Iraq to get money for food and medicine is to implement the Oil for Food Program.
QUESTION: (Inaudible) - Americans depending on imports for the vast bulk of their petroleum. Not since the Carter Administration have I heard an administration official suggest that that maybe isn't the wisest way to deal with the problem. And now you have these gas-eating Jeeps and --
MR. RUBIN: Who did say something you haven't heard since --
QUESTION: We tried - the Carter Administration tried very hard to encourage --
MR. RUBIN: Oh, so nobody has?
QUESTION: Right.
MR. RUBIN: Oh, OK. I thought somebody just did.
QUESTION: The Carter Administration tried to discourage imports and encourage development here and tried to encourage gas - not - higher taxes and not using gas so freely. And by all accounts, by oil industry accounts, now that the compact season has passed and you can see all those buses down there, that the urban cowboys drive in here every day. We're burning gas at an enormous rate, we're importing more than we ever did and the prices are sky-high. They're no dummies out there.
Does the Administration have a position on any of this? Do you think we should be relying on foreign oil?
MR. RUBIN: Well -
QUESTION: I didn't come in prepared to ask you that, so I'm not surprised if you don't have an answer. And what kind of car do you drive?
MR. RUBIN: And what particular types of vestments might I be wearing?
Let me take the question as to what kind of car I drive.
QUESTION: It is a long time since we heard any suggestion that you shouldn't depend on Iraq and Iran for your oil from now on.
MR. RUBIN: I will inquire as to the wisdom of me providing you information on my personal habits.
QUESTION: I have a new subject --
QUESTION: I have the same subject.
MR. RUBIN: Here and then there. Over here and then there. I'll come right to you, Betsy.
QUESTION: You said that support for the UN resolution is increasing in the Security Council. Is that your way of saying that the Russians may be coming around now?
MR. RUBIN: No, I was not suggesting that the Russians have agreed to this resolution. It is my sense that the support in the Council, the mood in the Council, the general desire to reestablish a consensus is growing, and that there is increasing support for this resolution.
QUESTION: Jamie, you said that there is food and medicine in the pipeline. Can you give us some idea of how many months this pipeline can last before it begins --
MR. RUBIN: There has been a considerable amount of food and medicine that hasn't been distributed. There is a considerable amount of gap between the funds available and how much food has been purchased. So we are talking about considerable amounts.
Moreover, I would point out that the Iraqis have indicated willingness to accept a six-month rollover for the Oil for Food Program, so this doesn't strike us as an unresolvable issue.
QUESTION: New subject.
MR. RUBIN: Please.
............(The briefing concluded at 1:45 p.m.)
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[end of document]
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