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Daily Press Briefing
Richard Boucher, Spokesman
Washington, DC
January 14, 2003

INDEX:

MR. BOUCHER: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. It's a pleasure to be here. I don't have any statements or announcements. I would be glad to take your questions.

Mr. Schweid.

QUESTION: Let's try something on Iraq and inspections if we could. On Friday the Secretary was quite clear that January 27th is a very big day. And now the inspectors are talking about needing more time, and that day of January 27th will only be an interim report.

What is -- apart from what is the situation, what is the US's view of the situation?

MR. BOUCHER: Well, the US view is the one that the President just stated a few minutes ago. So if I can start by quoting him, you know, so far we haven't seen any evidence that Saddam Hussein is disarming. Time is running out. The President said he's sick and tired of games and deception. That's my view of timetables, so we stand with the President.

We, I think, have repeatedly stressed that January 27th is the first formal report we're getting from the inspectors. We had a discussion on January 9th. We've had plenty of conversations with them as Security Council members. But the first time they formally report is January 27th. It's not the end of an inspection process. It's not -- the Secretary said it's not a D-date, but at the same time, it's a very important date.

We have made clear all along, I think the Secretary's phrase early on was, "This can't go on forever," that the issue is cooperation, the issue is disarmament, the issue is whether Iraq is disarming peacefully.

The international community was looking for signs of Iraq's cooperation. The inspectors, when they talked to the Council on January 9th, said they were seeing superficial cooperation, but inadequate disclosures. In other words, Iraq is not coming clean. So the point that we're looking for is cooperation.

Now, at some point in time, we will have to determine whether Iraq is cooperating or not, whether Iraq is disarming or not. And that will be based on what the inspectors report, what we know from intelligence, but also the obvious signs of whether Iraq is cooperating or not. Unfortunately, what we've seen so far is continued defiance.

We've seen a declaration that leaves out numerous questions from the past, numerous issues of, you know, everything to mustard gas shells to rocket tests that they've done. We've seen a list of scientists that's deficient, at best. And we've seen some open doors. But we haven't seen the kind of disclosure, the kind of "Here's what I've got, let's get rid of it," attitude that the Security Council was looking for when they asked -- when they said Iraq has a final opportunity.

QUESTION: This will be harder to answer, I think, but isn't there a risk that the coalition the US had, which wasn't, you know, universal is hard -- it will be hard to keep it together? The British, for instance, now, are speaking of the need to have the Council look at things again. Are you losing ground by the constant pushing of the -- kicking the deadline down the road?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't think one way or the other has been decided at this point. We will have to see what the inspectors report January 27th. We'll have to consult with other governments about what the next steps should be, and we'll have to decide on what the next steps should be. It's not foreordained that we will do one thing or another when we next hear a report or at any given moment in time because, as I've said, at some point we have to make a judgment on whether Iraq is cooperating or not, whether or not Iraq is complying or not, whether Iraq is peacefully disarming or not. And we'll -- that will be a subject of continuing conversation with our friends and allies.

QUESTION: But January 27th is not the day to make that decision?

MR. BOUCHER: It's --

QUESTION: It'll help, but --

MR. BOUCHER: It's not a date where we have to make that decision. It's a date that the inspectors report to the Council. When we and others decide to make that decision, when we and others decide to draw that conclusion, will be up to the members of the Council.

QUESTION: I'm just a little confused as to how effective you think a threat or a warning to Iraq and to Saddam Hussein, personally, that time is running out, how effective that kind of thing is if there isn't -- if it's not -- if the time is indefinite? How can time be running out if there is no time to -- time for action?

MR. BOUCHER: I read that article last week about the discovery of gravity waves, as well, and the speed of gravity. I think we're starting to get into those kind of questions.

QUESTION: Are we getting into Newtonian physics?

MR. BOUCHER: I think this is a Newtonian question which is beyond my competence. But, the, you know, in simple English, he doesn't have forever. The fact is, the President has said today as we -- the Secretary has before, that this is not going to go on forever, that at some point we will have to decide and make our determination as to whether we have that kind of cooperation or not that was required in the Security Council resolution.

I think it's obvious from the military deployments and obvious from the President's own statements that he's prepared to go the alternate course if we determine that Iraq is not complying. The message to Iraq should be, "The sooner the better, to demonstrate real compliance. And if you don't do it soon, we're going to have to make other decisions."

QUESTION: But your argument has always been, and, at least it was when you were pushing the resolution that was, in the end, eventually adopted unanimously in the Security Council, that Iraq complies only when it's faced with strong threat and with deadlines -- specific deadlines.

And in fact, you guys pressed very, very hard to get those deadlines, the ones that exist now, into that resolution. So I guess I'm just confused as to where -- how effective can you be? How effective can this warning to Iraq be if you're not prepared to even go back to what you were saying you were going to do before when you were negotiating the resolution, which is to set out strict and strong deadlines that must be adhered to?

MR. BOUCHER: This is a deadline. This is a moment in which Iraq's cooperation, or lack there of --

QUESTION: The 27th?

MR. BOUCHER: -- the 27th -- will be reported to the Security Council. But we have always said right from the start, that the job of the inspectors is to inspect, to verify, to audit, to report, to destroy equipment. It's not to decide the policy issues. So they will report to the Council and we and other members of the Council will consider what we believe to be the next steps. That's what happens. That may be why the difference between reporting on a certain deadline that we wanted in the resolution. But the policy makers have their right to decide when they decide to decide.

QUESTION: Right. But I just recall that you did give -- Iraq has faced deadlines before. I mean, the first thing in the -- the first two components of the resolution were the seven days to accept the resolution --

MR. BOUCHER: Yeah. But Iraq has to be aware that any time that the inspectors are reporting lack of cooperation or, as they indicated to the Council, superficial cooperation but inadequate disclosures, Iraq faces the prospect that that will result in further decisions by members of the Council.

Elise.

QUESTION: But Richard, (inaudible) if the inspectors are at the end and they're trying to tell you that this is not an adequate enough time for them to tell you whether to make a judgment on the cooperation?

MR. BOUCHER: There are different views that are being raised about that. I think our view is well known. But we have not said that we do or do not think at this point that, that, you know, what should happen after January 27th.

January 27th we'll look at the report. It's an important report. It's an important date for the report, but we and other members of the Council have to consider next steps at that point. And we'll see what is reported at that point -- what information is available at that point.

Terri.

QUESTION: Do you have anything to say or have you been in touch with people on the inspectors' team about the source of smuggling detected?

MR. BOUCHER: This is a subject that has been discussed with them, but has been discussed in public. I think if you look back at some of the things that Dr. Blix and Dr. El Baradei said when they briefed the Security Council, you'll see that the inspectors have encountered places where the equipment, materials, things that Iraq had been buying, I mean, we've always talked about the black markets purchases that Iraq was making, the fact that they were smuggling in weapons and equipment -- and so the inspectors have, I guess, found some of that material that we always knew Iraq was acquiring. And that's been a subject of discussion.

QUESTION: But --

MR. BOUCHER: But it'll be for them to report what they've found and whether it was related to the weapons of mass destruction program.

QUESTION: But you haven't -- you don't know that yet?

MR. BOUCHER: It'll be for them to report.

QUESTION: Richard, has the United States given the inspectors all the intelligence that it plans to give them on alleged sites of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq?

MR. BOUCHER: It's not -- it doesn't work that way. We have given them as good a quality of information as we have. We have been in a dialogue with them about what they are able to do and what they are able to use, and we're making sure that they are getting all that they need at this stage, given their capabilities.

Have we given them all that we are going to give them? No. This is an ongoing issue, an ongoing provision of information, it's an ongoing effort. As they build their capabilities, as they get interested in other things, we try to provide them with the information that can support those capabilities and that can help them understand the areas which they have identified for inspection.

QUESTION: Well, how do you explain the apparent discrepancy between your allegations that Iraq has these things and the fact that they haven't found them after receiving your intelligence?

MR. BOUCHER: I think it's obvious to everybody that many of the initial inspections that the Iraq, that the inspectors conducted in Iraq, were sort of going back to places to see what had happened with old equipment, checking out sites where people had been before. I think you've seen a noticeable gain of momentum by the inspectors in the last week or so and that the inspections at that stepped-up pace have led to, indeed, some consternation by the Iraqi Government over how the inspectors were going out to do more than they had before.

So I think, I think we've seen a stepped-up level of inspections that is different than we've seen before.

QUESTION: All right. Can I just follow up on that? Do you mean that they haven't -- the inspectors have not gone to the places identified by the United States intelligence?

MR. BOUCHER: I'm not about to indicate whether or not the places they've gone to were identified by US intelligence.

QUESTION: You seem to be implying that.

MR. BOUCHER: I'm not about to indicate one way or the other whether places they've gone to have been part of US intelligence reports.

QUESTION: Did you mean, by saying that you've given them all they need given their capabilities?

MR. BOUCHER: As I said, it's an ongoing process with the inspectors that, you know, places they can reach, things they are interested in, things they want to do -- we try to provide the information to support that. We try to provide information that can indicate to them what they might consider doing were they able to. It doesn't do any good to say, "such and such was at 'X' place last week," when they had no ability to go out there.

QUESTION: (Inaudible) because the implication is they are not being as intensive as the US would like.

MR. BOUCHER: No, as I said, they're gaining momentum. I mean, last week they started flying helicopters. They're doing other things now to enhance their capabilities.

QUESTION: Yeah, but they're saying they may be through in about 200 years. They are gaining momentum --

MR. BOUCHER: It's an ongoing effort. They're gaining momentum. They've stepped up the investigations. I think we -- and we've supported them in every way we can to do that.

QUESTION: So, you don't want to be asked again whether you wish they stepped it up still further and went to more places that you (inaudible) have suspicions stuff is stuffed away at?

MR. BOUCHER: It's an ongoing effort and we'll continue to support them. We've supported them more and more as they've gone forward, as they've built their capabilities.

(...)

QUESTION: Can we go back to Iraq just a moment and ask the -- a redundant question whether the US is interested in or considering or doing anything about exile for Saddam Hussein?

MR. BOUCHER: It's a question that does come up and has come up from time to time. I think you're aware of our basic answer that it'd be a good idea if he took the opportunity to leave. It would save all of us a lot of trouble if he could be replaced by a regime that was willing to treat its people decently and not threaten its neighbors with weapons of mass destruction. At the same time, I don't think we're counting on it. We're not engaged in any deep or serious discussions on the subject at this point since he's indicated no particular willingness to do that. So, it'd be a good idea if he did, but I think we have to be prepared to resolve this in other ways.

(...)

QUESTION: And also, Prime Minister of Turkey, he visit, he completed his trip to Middle East. And he said that several neighbor countries, they have a plan for the Iraq. Did they communicate their plan with you or do you have any idea about what their plan?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't think it's for me to divulge their plan, nor for me to discuss what the Prime Minister of Turkey may have had in terms of his discussions with other Arab leaders. I think we have had conversations with other governments about how, you know, Saddam Hussein might leave, people have mentioned this to us. I think you've seen some public statements in the Arab world about various leaders that wanted to make sure that Iraq complied. So which of these various elements they might be talking about, I don't know. But I think if anybody's got a plan, it's for them to talk about it, not us.

QUESTION: Are you happy with the Turkish Government's contact with the Iraqi Government?

MR. BOUCHER: As we've said before, we think anybody who has contact with the Iraqi Government needs to make the point to the Iraqi regime that they need to comply with UN resolutions, they need to stop threatening the region and their own people with weapons of mass destruction, and we think the people who do have contact should make that point.

QUESTION: How about economic relations?

MR. BOUCHER: No. I --

QUESTION: Did they sign a $700,000 million economic --

MR. BOUCHER: A lot of this is future speculation. I'm not informed of the details of that agreement, but I don't have anything to say on it now.

Terri.

QUESTION: Have you talked to the Turks, though, about their contacts with the Iraqi Government? I mean, do you know that they conveyed this message to --

MR. BOUCHER: I don't know. You'll have to ask the Turks exactly what they said when they were there. We're certainly keeping in touch with all the governments who may or may not be having contact.

QUESTION: Have you asked them?

MR. BOUCHER: We generally have asked all the governments that may contact with Iraq to make clear that they, Iraq, needs to comply. So without focusing on any particular government or not, we know that people have discussions with the Iraqis and that's the message that we encourage them to make.

Yeah.

QUESTION: Turkey.

QUESTION: On Iraq and neighbors and so on.

MR. BOUCHER: What are we discussing before we decide if we can finish it off? Iraq and neighbors and so on?

QUESTION: Yeah.

MR. BOUCHER: Sure.

QUESTION: What can you tell us about a proposed, large aid package for Jordan, allegedly up to $1 billion which is under discussion?

MR. BOUCHER: Nothing more than I told him about a package allegedly under discussion with Turkey.

QUESTION: And on a related matter, is the State Department sending somebody to the Salahadin Meeting in Kurdistan next week? And --

MR. BOUCHER: I don't know, I will have to check. We were looking at that and I'm not sure it's been decided. Let me check.

(...)

QUESTION: The last few days, Tehran, the capital of Iran, witnessed very active diplomatic movement, the Kuwaitis, the Turks visit Iran. And the Iranians say they were talking to their visitors and guests on the subject of Iraq. My question is, are you coordinating or are the Iranians coordinating something on Iraq with you?

MR. BOUCHER: What? (Laughter.) The bearded gentleman said yes. Not the other one.

The -- let me get back to you and see if there's anything I can say. I'm not going to comment on other people's visits. Certainly we -- our position on Iraq is well known, and I'm sure the Iranians know it. As neighbors, the Iranians have much to fear should Iraq develop weapons of mass destruction.

But in terms of any contact we may or may not have had, I would have to double-check and see if there's been anything like that.

(...)
[End]