[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 141 (Friday, October 9, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12239-S12240]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CONCERN OVER RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN IRAQ
Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, today, along with Senators McCain,
Lieberman, Hutchison and twenty-three other Senators, I am sending a
letter to the President to express our concern over Iraq's actions and
urging the President ``after consulting with Congress, and consistent
with the U.S. Constitution and laws, to take necessary actions
(including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi
sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to
end its weapons of mass destruction programs.''
At the outset, I believe it would be useful to review the events that
led up to the requirement for the destruction of Iraq's weapons of mass
destruction programs. At the time that Iraq unlawfully invaded and
occupied its neighbor Kuwait, the UN Security Council imposed economic
and weapons sanctions on Iraq.
After Iraqi forces had been ousted from Kuwait by the U.S.-led
coalition and active hostilities had ended, but while coalition forces
were still occupying Iraqi territory, the UN Security Council, acting
under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, conducted a review of Iraq's
history with weapons of mass destruction and made a number of decisions
in April 1991 to achieve its goals, including a formal cease fire.
With respect to Iraq's history, the Security Council noted Iraq's
threat during the Gulf War to use chemical weapons in violation of its
treaty obligations, Iraq's prior use of chemical weapons, Iraq's use of
ballistic missiles in unprovoked attacks, and reports that Iraq
attempted to acquire materials for a nuclear weapons program contrary
to its treaty obligations.
After reviewing Iraq's history, the Security Council decided that
``Iraq shall unconditionally accept the destruction, removal, or
rendering harmless, under international supervision'' of its weapons of
mass destruction programs and all ballistic missiles with a range
greater than 150 kilometers and conditioned the lifting of the economic
and weapons sanctions on Iraq's meeting its obligations, including
those relating to its weapons of mass destruction programs.
To implement those decisions, the Security Council authorized the
formation of a Special Commission, which has come to be known as
UNSCOM, to ``carry out immediate on-site inspection of Iraq's
biological, chemical and missile capabilities, based on Iraq's
declarations and the designation of any additional locations by the
Special Commission itself'' and requested the Director General of the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to carry out similar
responsibilities for Iraq's nuclear program. Additionally, the UN
Security Council decided that Iraq shall unconditionally undertake not
to use, develop, construct or acquire weapons of mass destruction and
called for UNSCOM to conduct ongoing monitoring and verification of
Iraq's compliance. The detailed modalities for these actions were
agreed upon by an exchange of letters in May 1991 that were signed by
the UN Secretary General, the Executive Chairman of UNSCOM and the
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iraq.
Thus, Iraq unconditionally accepted the UN Security Council's demands
and thereby achieved a formal cease-fire and the withdrawal of
coalition forces from its territory.
Mr. President, UNSCOM has sought to carry out its responsibilities in
as expeditious and effective way as possible. UNSCOM Executive Chairman
Richard Butler and his teams, however, have been confronted with Iraqi
obstacles, lack of cooperation and lies. As UNSCOM has noted in its own
document entitled ``UNSCOM Main Achievements'': ``UNSCOM has uncovered
significant undeclared proscribed weapons programmes, destroyed
elements of those programmes so far identified, including equipment,
facilities and materials, and has been attempting to map out and verify
the full extent of these programmes in the face of serious efforts to
deceive and conceal. UNSCOM also continues to try to verify Iraq's
illegal unilateral destruction activities. The investigation of such
undeclared activities is crucial to the verification of Iraq's
declarations on its proscribed weapons programmes.''
Mr. President, I will not dwell on the numerous instances of Iraq's
failure to comply with its obligations. I would note, however, that in
accepting the February 23, 1998 Memorandum of Understanding that was
signed by the UN Secretary General and Iraq's Deputy Foreign Minister,
that ended Iraq's prior refusal to allow UNSCOM and the IAEA to perform
their missions, the UN Security Council warned Iraq that it will face
the ``severest consequences'' if it fails to adhere to the commitments
it reaffirmed in the MOU. Suffice it to say that on August 5, 1998,
Iraq declared that it was suspending all cooperation with UNSCOM and
the IAEA, except some limited monitoring activities.
[[Page S12240]]
In response, on September 9, 1998, a unanimous UN Security Council
condemned Iraq's action and suspended its sanctions' reviews until
UNSCOM and the IAEA report that they are satisfied that they have been
able to exercise their full range of activities. Within the last week,
Iraq's Deputy Foreign Minister refused to rescind Iraq's decision.
Throughout this process and despite the unanimity in the UN Security
Council, Iraq has depicted the United States and Britain as preventing
UNSCOM and the IAEA from certifying Iraqi compliance with its
obligations.
To review, Iraq unlawfully invaded and occupied Kuwait, it's armed
forces were ejected from Kuwait by the U.S.-led coalition forces,
active hostilities ceased, and the UN Security Council demanded and
Iraq accepted, as a condition of a cease-fire, that its weapons of mass
destruction programs be destroyed and that such destruction be
accomplished under international supervision and permanent monitoring,
and that economic and weapons sanctions remain in effect until those
conditions are satisfied.
Mr. President, by invading Kuwait, Iraq threatened international
peace and security in the Persian Gulf region. By its failure to comply
with the conditions it accepted as the international community's
requirements for a cease-fire, Iraq continues to threaten international
peace and security. By its refusal to abandon its quest for weapons of
mass destruction and the means to deliver them, Iraq is directly
defying and challenging the international community and directly
violating the terms of the cease fire between itself and the United
States-led coalition.
Mr. President, it is vitally important for the international
community to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal
to allow UNSCOM and the IAEA to carry out their missions. To date, the
response has been to suspend sanctions' reviews and to seek to reverse
Iraq's decision through diplomacy.
Mr. President, as UN Secretary General Kofi Annan noted when he
successfully negotiated the memorandum of agreement with Saddam Hussein
in February, ``You can do a lot with diplomacy, but of course you can
do a lot more with diplomacy backed up by fairness and force.'' It is
my sincere hope that Saddam Hussein, when faced with the credible
threat of the use of force, will comply with the relevant UN Security
Council Resolutions. But, I believe that we must carefully consider
other actions, including, if necessary, the use of force to destroy
suspect sites if compliance is not achieved.
Mr. President, the Iraqi people are suffering because of Saddam
Hussein's noncompliance. The United States has no quarrel with the
Iraqi people. It is most unfortunate that they have been subjected to
economic sanctions for more than seven years. If Saddam Hussein had
cooperated with UNSCOM and the IAEA from the start and had met the
other requirements of the UN Security Council resolutions, including
the accounting for more than 600 Kuwaitis and third-country nationals
who disappeared at the hands of Iraqi authorities during the occupation
of Kuwait, those sanctions could have been lifted a number of years
ago. I support the UN's oil-for-food program and regret that Saddam
Hussein took more than five years to accept it. In the final analysis,
as the Foreign Ministers of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia
and the United Arab Emirates, comprising the Gulf Cooperation Council
stated at the time of the February crisis: ``responsibility for the
result of this crisis falls on the Iraqi regime itself.''
I ask that the letter to the President be printed in the Record.
The letter follows:
U.S. Senate,
Committee on Armed Services,
Washington, DC, October 9, 1998.
The President,
The White House, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. President: We are writing to express our concern
over recent developments in Iraq.
Last February, the Senate was working on a resolution
supporting military action if diplomacy did not succeed in
convincing Saddam Hussein to comply with the United Nations
Security Council resolutions concerning the disclosure and
destruction of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. This
effort was discontinued when the Iraqi government reaffirmed
its acceptance of all relevant Security Council resolutions
and reiterated its willingness to cooperate with the United
Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) and the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in a Memorandum of Understanding
signed by its Deputy Prime Minister and the United Nations
Secretary General.
Despite a brief interval of cooperation, however, Saddam
Hussein has failed to live up to his commitments. On August
5, Iraq suspended all cooperation with UNSCOM and the IAEA,
except some limited monitoring activity.
As UNSCOM Executive Chairman Richard Butler told us in a
briefing for all Senators in March, the fundamental historic
reality is that Iraq has consistently sought to limit,
mitigate, reduce and, in some cases, defeat the Security
Council's resolutions by a variety of devices.
We were gratified by the Security Council's action in
unanimously passing Resolution 1194 on September 9. By
condemning Iraq's decision to suspend cooperation with UNSCOM
and the IAEA, by demanding that Iraq rescind that decision
and cooperate fully with UNSCOM and the IAEA, by deciding not
to conduct the sanctions' review scheduled for October 1998
and not to conduct any future such reviews until UNSCOM and
the IAEA, report that they are satisfied that they have been
able to exercise the full range of activities provided for in
their mandates, and by acting under Chapter VII of the United
Nations Charter, the Security Council has sent an unambiguous
message to Saddam Hussein.
We are skeptical, however, that Saddam Hussein will take
heed of this message even though it is from a unanimous
Security Council. Moreover, we are deeply concerned that
without the intrusive inspections and monitoring by UNSCOM
and the IAEA, Iraq will be able, over time, to reconstitute
its weapons of mass destruction programs.
In light of these developments, we urge you, after
consulting with Congress, and consistent with the U.S.
Constitution and laws, to take necessary actions (including,
if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraq
sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq's
refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction programs.
Sincrely,
Carl Levin, Joe Lieberman, Frank R. Lautenberg, Dick
Lugar, Kit Bond, Jon Kyl, Chris Dodd, John McCain, Kay
Bailey Hutchison, Alfonse D'Amato, Bob Kerrey, Pete V.
Domenici, Dianne Feinstein, Barbara A. Mikulski.
Thomas Daschle, John Breaux, Tim Johnson, Daniel K.
Inouye, Arlen Specter, James Inhofe, Strom Thurmond,
Mary L. Landrieu, Wendell Ford, John F. Kerry, Chuck
Grassley, Jesse Helms, Rick Santorum.
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