24 February 2003
U.S., Britain, Spain Present New Resolution on Iraq
(U.S. says Saddam Hussein has had more than enough time to disarm) (1130) By Judy Aita Washington File United Nations Correspondent United Nations -- The United States, United Kingdom, and Spain February 24 presented a new draft resolution to the U.N. Security Council declaring that Iraq has failed to take advantage of its final opportunity to disarm. The short resolution was presented to the 15-nation Security Council during a closed-door session. The sponsors said that they will not call for a vote on the text until the council has had an opportunity to discuss and examine the text thoroughly. U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte said, "We have listened carefully to the many voices calling for more time. But 11 years, 10 months and 23 days is more than enough time for Saddam Hussein to prove that he has disarmed." "We gave Iraq a 'final opportunity' to disarm precisely because we wanted to be sure of ourselves. We gave Iraq more time after the briefing on January 27, now almost a month ago," Negroponte told the council, according to the text of his remarks released by the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. "We now believe that it is abundantly clear that Iraq has refused to disarm and has no intention of doing so. We believe, therefore, that because of the failures that I have outlined here, Iraq has failed to comply with the tests of truthfulness, cooperation and disarmament set by resolution 1441," the ambassador said. Negroponte pointed out that: Iraq's December declaration was not accurate, full or complete and does not account for biological and chemical materials; Baghdad has failed to allow scientists to be interviewed privately by U.N. weapons inspectors; Iraq failed to provide adequate lists of all personnel currently and formerly associated with Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs; and Iraq has failed to cooperate actively with the weapons inspectors. "We have not seen what this council insisted on seeing -- a strategic decision to disarm," he said. "There has been a lot of talk recently about 'benchmarks,'" the ambassador said. "Resolution 1441 is the benchmark." "We cannot allow ourselves to return to business-as-usual on Iraq," Negroponte said. "Over the past 13 years, a pattern has emerged. Each time that there is a renewed acknowledgement that a non-compliant Iraq poses a threat, political or military pressure mounts. The council then calls on Iraq to disarm. Iraq offers minimal signs of cooperation on process until the political pressure subsides and then returns to its standard operating procedures of non-compliance and non-cooperation." The draft resolution recalls that council resolution 1441, passed unanimously in November 2002, declared Iraq had been and remained in material breach of its disarmament obligations and gave Iraq "a final opportunity to comply." The draft also recalls that in 1441 "the council decided that false statements or omissions in the declaration submitted by Iraq pursuant to that resolution and failure by Iraq at any time to comply with, and cooperate fully in the implementation of, that resolution, would constitute a further material breach." Resolution 1441 also warned Iraq that "it will face serious consequences as a result of its continued violations of its obligations," the draft says. The draft resolution then notes that the declaration submitted by Iraq in December 2002 contained "false statements and omissions" and Baghdad has failed to "cooperate fully in the implementation" of the resolution. "Determined to secure full compliance with its decisions and to restore international peace and security in the area, acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, (the Security Council) decides that Iraq has failed to take the final opportunity afforded it in resolution 1441," the draft states. A brief and relatively straightforward resolution by U.N. standards, the draft does not mention the use of force or all available means to disarm Iraq in its so-called "operative paragraphs." Its preambular paragraphs recall resolution 1441 which includes the threat of "serious consequences" and states that the Security Council's primary responsibility is maintaining international peace and security and Iraq's noncompliance poses a threat to international peace and security. In the main "operative" paragraph, the draft has the council decide that "Iraq has failed to take the final opportunity." U.K. Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock said that the United Kingdom "through tabling this draft in this form, seeks to keep the council in control of the process and to build renewed council consensus, as on November 8, that Iraq has made the wrong choice: the choice not to take, at last, the final opportunity voluntarily to disarm in accordance with U.N. resolutions." Speaking with journalists after the meeting, Greenstock said that although 1441 doesn't specify that another resolution is needed, "there needs to be United Nations action if there is serious doubt about Iraq's actions and intention to cooperate. That is much better done on the basis of resolution of the kind we have submitted." The resolution has only one operative paragraph, the ambassador said, "because there is no need to establish or re-negotiate the terms of 1441." "We are not asking for any instant judgments," Greenstock said. "This is a serious subject, and the stakes are significant. There is time still, under pressure from the council, for Iraq to make the right choice." The ambassador said that the sponsors are not ready to re-negotiate the text, but the text is not closed to amendments. "There is still an opportunity to avert conflict," Greenstock said. The council must make "a clear, formal statement on Iraq's failure" and "confront Baghdad with the stark implications, and trust that, in these final weeks, the response will be the complete disarmament which we demanded 14 resolutions ago." While the council was meeting, the college of commissioners of the U.N. Monitoring, Verification, and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) was holding a two-day session to discuss a list of 30 unresolved disarmament issues in preparation for UNMOVIC's March 1 report to the council on Iraq's disarmament. UNMOVIC Chairman Hans Blix has told the council that Iraq has Al-Samoud 2 missiles that are banned by the terms of the Gulf War ceasefire resolution (resolution 687). Blix has told Iraq that it must destroy the missiles by March 1. Baghdad said it is studying the matter. France, Germany, and Russia also began circulating a memorandum proposing a program of action for inspections that would prioritize the key remaining disarmament tasks, set timelines for assessments, and increase the number of weapons inspectors. Diplomats said that the resolution is being sent back to capitals and then will be discussed in another private meeting February 27. (The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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