[House Document 105-138]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]




105th Congress, 1st Session - - - - - - - - - - - - House Document 105-138


 
                            STATUS ON IRAQ

                               __________

                             COMMUNICATION

                                  from

                   THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

                              transmitting

A REPORT ON THE STATUS OF EFFORTS TO OBTAIN IRAQ'S COMPLIANCE WITH THE 
 RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY THE U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL, PURSUANT TO PUB. L. 
                      102-1, SEC. 3 (105 STAT. 4)




October 2, 1997.--Referred to the Committee on International Relations 
                       and ordered to be printed

                                ----------

                      U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
                              WASHINGTON : 1997


                                           The White House,
                                    Washington, September 23, 1997.
Hon. Newt Gingrich,
Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Speaker: Consistent with the Authorization for Use 
of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution (Public Law 102-1) 
and as part of my effort to keep the Congress fully informed, I 
am reporting on the status of efforts to obtain Iraq's 
compliance with the resolutions adopted by the United Nations 
Security Council (UNSC). This report covers the period from 
July 9 to the present.
    Saddam Hussein remains a threat to his people and the 
region, and the United States remains determined to contain the 
threat posed by his regime. Secretary of State Albright stated 
on March 26 that the United States looks forward to the day 
when Iraq rejoins the family of nations as a responsible and 
law-abiding member but until then, containment must continue. 
Secretary Albright made clear that Saddam's departure would 
make a difference and that, should a change in Iraq's 
government occur, the United States would stand ready to enter 
rapidly into a dialogue with the successor regime.
    In terms of military operations, the United States and its 
coalition partners continue to enforce the no-fly zones over 
northern Iraq under Operation Northern Watch and over southern 
Iraq through Operation southern Watch. We have not detected any 
confirmed, intentional Iraqi violations of either no-fly zone 
during the period of this report. We have repeatedly made clear 
to the Government of Iraq and to all other relevant parties 
that the United States and its partners will continue to 
enforce both no-fly zones, and that we reserve the right to 
respond appropriately and decisively to any Iraqi provocations.
    In addition to our air operations, we will continue to 
maintain a strong U.S. presence in the region in order to deter 
Iraq. United States force levels include land- and carrier-
based aircraft, surface warships, a Marine amphibious task 
force, a Patriot missile battalion, and a mechanized battalion 
task force deployed in support of USCINCCENT operations. To 
enhance force protection throughout the region, additional 
military security personnel have been deployed for continuous 
rotation. USCINCCENT continues to monitor closely the security 
situation in the region to ensure adequate force protection is 
provided for all deployed forces.
    United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 949, 
adopted in October 1994, demands that Iraq not use its military 
or any other forces to threaten its neighbors or U.N. 
operations in Iraq and that it not redeploy troops or enhance 
its military capacity in southern Iraq. In view of Saddam's 
accumulating record of unreliability, it is prudent to retain a 
significant U.S. force presence in the region in order to 
maintain the capability to respond rapidly to possible Iraqi 
aggression or threats against its neighbors.
    Since my last report, the Government of Iraq has continued 
to flout its obligations under UNSC resolutions. During the 
last 60 days, the Government of Iraq has continued to fail to 
fully disclose its programs for weapons of mass destruction 
(WMD). Without such full disclosure--mandated by Security 
Council Resolutions 687, 707, and 715--the U.N. Special 
Commission (UNSCOM) and the International Atomic Energy Agency 
(IAEA) cannot effectively conduct the ongoing monitoring and 
verification mandated by relevant UNSC resolutions. UNSCOM and 
the IAEA continue to provide Iraq every opportunity for full 
disclosure. What Iraq will not disclose, UNSCOM and IAEA will 
try to discover, in an effort to fill in the huge gaps in 
Iraq's declarations.
    Iraqi threats, lying, and hiding during the past 6 years 
have not deterred UNSCOM and IAEA dedication to their mandates. 
While some nations have begun to display sanctions-fatigue, the 
United States remains committed to sanctions enforcement. We 
shall continue to oppose any suggestion that the sanctions 
regime should be modified or lifted before Iraq demonstrates 
its peaceful intentions by complying with its obligations under 
UNSC resolutions.
    We anticipate the UNSCOM and IAEA 6-month reports to the 
Security Council, due October 11, which will record their 
conclusions regarding whether the Government of Iraq has 
provided the ``substantial compliance'' called for in UNSCR 
1115 of June 21, 1997--especially regarding immediate, 
unconditional, and unrestricted access to facilities for 
inspection and to officials for interviews.
    The United States is committed to providing first-class 
professional support to UNSCOM and the IAEA in the conduct of 
their highly technical work in Iraq, so that both organizations 
are staffed and equipped to conduct objective and accurate 
inspections in order to determine whether Iraq has, or has not, 
complied with its obligations in the field of WMD.
    Implementation of UNSCR 1051 continues. It provides for a 
mechanism to monitor Iraq's effort to reacquire proscribed 
weapons capabilities by requiring that Iraq notify a joint unit 
of UNSCOM and the IAEA in advance of any imports of dual-use 
items. Similarly, U.N. members must provide timely notification 
of exports to Iraq of dual-use items.
    Regarding northern Iraq, the United States continues to 
lead efforts to increase security and stability in the north 
and minimize opportunities for Baghdad or Tehran to threaten 
Iraqi citizens there. An important part of this effort has been 
to work toward resolving the differences between the two main 
Iraqi Kurd groups, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), led by 
Massoud Barzani, and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), 
led by Jalal Talabani. Talanai visited the United States in 
late July to meet with National Security Advisor Sandy Berger, 
Under Secretary of State Thomas Pickering, and U.N. Ambassador 
Bill Richardson. At these sessions, he reaffirmed his interest 
in the ``Ankara process'' of ongoing reconciliation talks 
jointly sponsored by the United States, the United Kingdom, and 
Turkey. Recently, the KDP's Barzani has also accepted our 
invitation to Washington.
    As part of the Ankara process, the United States provides 
political, financial, and logistical support to the neutral, 
indigenous Peace Monitoring Force (PMF), comprised of Iraqi 
Turkomans and Assyrians. The PMF has demarcated and monitors 
the cease-fire line established between the two Kurdish groups 
in October 1996. United States support takes the form of 
services and commodities provided in accordance with a drawdown 
that I directed on December 11, 1996, and funds for other 
nonlethal assistance provided in accordance with a separate 
determination made by former Secretary of State Christopher on 
November 10, 1996.
    The PMF also helps the Iraqi Kurds move forward on other 
confidence-building measures, including joint committee 
meetings to address a range of civilian services and 
humanitarian issues affecting all residents of the north. Local 
representatives of the two Kurdish groups, the three co-
sponsors of the Ankara process and the PMF continue to meet at 
least biweekly in Ankara to discuss, inter alia, other 
confidence-building measures.
    The PMF began full deployment in mid-April 1997 and its 
size is expected to double later this year to more than 400. 
The PMF continues to investigate and resolve reported cease-
fire violations. Its work has become more difficult as elements 
of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) have moved from 
theTurkish border toward the PUK-KDP cease-fire line. The KDP 
alleges that PKK elements have been operating across the cease-fire 
line to attack the KDP. The KDP also alleges that the PUK has joined in 
some of these attacks, a charge that the PUK denies. The United States, 
together with the United Kingdom and Turkey, continues to stress the 
importance of strict observance of the cease-fire.
    Another important aspect of our commitment to the people of 
northern Iraq is in providing humanitarian relief for those in 
need. As part of this commitment, AID's Office of Foreign 
Disaster Assistance will direct an additional $4 million for 
relief projects to the region. These supplemental programs, 
announced July 31, will provide emergency health and 
nutritional support to 80,000 displaced women and children and 
improve water supplies and sanitation, particularly in the PUK-
controlled province of Suleymaniyah.
    The oil-for-food arrangement under UNSCR 986 was 
reauthorized by UNSCR 1111 on June 4, 1997, and went into 
effect on June 8, 1997. Under UNSCR 1111, Iraq is authorized to 
sell up to $1 billion worth of oil every 90 days, for a total 
of $2 billion during a 180-day period (with the possibility of 
UNSCR renewal for subsequent 180-day periods). Resolution 1111, 
like its predecessor, requires that the proceeds of this 
limited oil sale, all of which must be deposited in a U.N. 
escrow account, will be used to purchase food, medicine, and 
other material and supplies for essential civilian needs for 
all Iraqi citizens and to fund vital U.N. activities regarding 
Iraq. Critical to the success of UNSCR 1111 is Iraq's 
willingness to follow through on its commitments under the 
resolution to allow the U.N. to monitor the distribution of 
humanitarian goods to the Iraqi people. Although UNSCR 1111 
went into effect on June 8, Iraq unilaterally suspended oil 
sales until a new distribution plan was submitted and approved. 
The U.N. Secretary General approved a distribution plan on 
August 13 and oil sales have resumed.
    Iraq continues to stall and obfuscate rather than work in 
good faith toward accounting for the hundreds of Kuwaitis and 
third-country nationals who disappeared at the hands of Iraqi 
authorities during the occupation. It has also failed to return 
all of the stolen Kuwaiti military equipment and the priceless 
Kuwaiti cultural and historical artifacts that were looted 
during the occupation.
    The human rights situation throughout Iraq remains 
unchanged. Iraq's repression of its Shi'a population continues, 
with policies that are destroying the Marsh Arabs' way of life 
in southern Iraq and the ecology of the southern marshes. The 
U.N., in its most recent reports on implementation of UNSCR 
986, recognized that the Government of Iraq continues forcibly 
to deport Iraqi citizens from Kirkuk and other areas of 
northern Iraq still under the Iraqi government's control. The 
Government of Iraq shows no signs of complying with UNSCR 688, 
which demands that Iraq cease the repression of its own people. 
The effort by various Iraqi opposition groups and 
nongovernmental organizations to document Iraqi war crimes and 
other violations of international humanitarian law known as 
INDICT, continues.
    The Multinational Interception Force (MIF) continues its 
important mission in the Arabian Gulf. The United States Navy 
provides the bulk of the forces involved in the maritime 
sanctions enforcement authorized under UNSCR 665, although we 
receive much-needed help from a number of close allies. In 
recent months, ships from The Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand, 
and the United Kingdom have participated in MIF operations. We 
continue active pursuit of broad-based international 
participation in these operations.
    Illegal smuggling of Iraqi gasoil from the Shatt Al Arab 
waterway continues to increase at an alarming rate. We now 
estimate that over 150,000 metric tons of gasoil each month is 
exported from Iraq in violation of UNSCR 661. The smugglers use 
the territorial waters of Iran with the complicity of the 
Iranian government that profits from charging protection fees 
for these vessels to avoid interception by the MIF in 
international waters. Cash raised from these illegal operations 
is used to purchase contraband goods that are then smuggled 
back into Iraq by the same route. We continue to brief the U.N. 
Sanctions Committee regarding these operations and have pressed 
the Committee to compel Iran to give a full accounting of its 
involvement. We have also worked closely with our MIF partners 
and Gulf Cooperation Council states to take measures to curb 
sanctions-breaking operations. A recent spill of illegal Iraqi 
gasoil caused the desalinization plant in Sharjah, United Arab 
Emirates (UAE), to suspend operation for 2 days, highlighting 
the environmental threat these activities pose to Gulf states. 
Recent announcements by the Government of the UAE that it 
intends to crack down on smugglers who operate UAE-flagged 
vessels has been backed up by strong actions against violators 
detained by the MIF.
    The United Nations Compensation Committee (UNCC), 
established pursuant to UNSCR 687, continues to resolve claims 
against Iraq arising from Iraq's unlawful invasion and 
occupation of Kuwait. The UNCC has issued almost 1.1 million 
awards worth approximately $5.9 billion. Thirty percent of the 
proceeds from the oil sales permitted by UNSCR 986 have been 
allocated to the Compensation Fund to pay awards and to finance 
operations of the UNCC, and these proceeds will continue to be 
allocated to the Fund under UNSCR 1111. To the extent that 
money is available in the Compensation Fund, initial payments 
to each claimant are authorized for awards in the order in 
which the UNCC has approved them, in installments of $2,500.00.
    Iraq remains a serious threat to regional peace and 
stability. I remain determined to see Iraq comply fully with 
all of its obligations under U.N. Security Council resolutions. 
My Administration will continue to oppose any relaxation of 
sanctions until Iraq demonstrates its peaceful intentions 
through such compliance.
    I appreciate the support of the Congress for our efforts 
and shall continue to keep the Congress informed about this 
important issue.
            Sincerely,
                                                William J. Clinton.

                                
