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25 February 2000

White House Report, Friday, February 25, 2000

(Russia/Chechnya, Iraq) (550)
U.S. WILL CONTINUE SANCTIONS AGAINST IRAQ
Asked whether there was a review under way of the administration's
policy against shipments of various dual-use materials to Iraq under
the sanctions regime, Lockhart said:
"There is absolutely no shift in U.S. policy on sanctions to Iraq.
Saddam Hussein knows what he needs to do to get out from under U.N.
sanctions against his country and there will be no shift until he
understands that and acts on it."
"We know that there is a humanitarian need in Iraq," Lockhart said.
"We will continue to be supporters and we will continue to work with
the U.N. and other organizations to look at ways to make that program
more effective."
President Clinton also addressed this subject with reporters February
25.
"What we are reviewing is whether there is some way to continue our
policy of meeting human needs without allowing Saddam Hussein to
rearm," Clinton said. "I think it's clear to everybody who has looked
at the facts, however, that they're (Iraq) exporting about as much oil
now as they were before the embargo was imposed. And any continued
suffering from lack of food and medicine on the part of Iraqi children
or the poor is the result of Saddam Hussein's policies, not this
embargo.
"If you look at the difference in the health indicators of children in
the north of Iraq where this program, the Oil for Food Program, has
been administered by the United Nations, and in the rest of Iraq where
it's been administered by Saddam Hussein, it's perfectly clear that he
has increased the misery of his people and has blamed us for something
that is no longer -- clearly no longer attributable to the
international community.
"Nonetheless, if there is a way to further free up resources for the
overall health and development of the people of Iraq, without doing
anything that will make it easier for him to rearm in ways that will
be damaging to his neighbors and to the stability of the region, we
ought to be open to that. And we ought to be careful and constructive
in listening to arguments about it," Clinton said.
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: usinfo.state.gov)