    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
    [March 22, 1993]
    [Pages 332-334]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Letter to Congressional Leaders Reporting on Iraq's Compliance With
    United Nations Security Council Resolutions
    March 22, 1993

    Dear Mr. Speaker:  (Dear Mr. President:)
        Consistent with the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against
    Iraq Resolution (Public Law 102-1) and in an 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 U.N. Security Council.
        Under my Administration, the United States will continue to lead
    international efforts aimed at ensuring that the Iraqi regime does not
    threaten international peace and security and at ending the Iraqi
    Government's brutal repression of its people. To that end, we will
    maintain our insistence on full Iraqi compliance with U.N. Security
    Council resolutions. We will work with the international community to
    ensure the integrity of the U.N. sanctions regime, which is the best
    means to promote Iraqi compliance.
        In accordance with U.N. Security Council Resolution 687, the U.N.
    Special Commission on Iraq (UNSCOM) and the International Atomic Energy
    Agency (IAEA) have continued to investigate Iraq's weapons of mass
    destruction (WMD) programs and to verify the destruction of relevant
    facilities, equipment, and weapons. Destruction of chemical munitions at
    Al Muthanna has continued.
        UNSCOM 48, a missile team, and UNSCOM 49/IAEA 17, a nuclear team,
    arrived in Iraq just a week after the cruise missile attack on the Al
    Zaafaraniyah nuclear-related facility. The nuclear team inspected the Al
    Zaafaraniyah site, confirmed that only buildings with technical
    functions had been hit, and verified the destruction of many highly
    sensitive machine tools. After initial resistance, Iraqi officials have
    permitted baseline inventories of the Ibn Al Haytham Research Center;
    this is an important but limited step in enabling UNSCOM to move toward
    comprehensive evaluation and long-term monitoring of Iraqi WMD
    capabilities. The inspections were successful in eliciting new details
    of Iraqi WMD programs and an admission from Iraqi officials that they
    attempted to deceive a previous UNSCOM team.
        A missile team designated as UNSCOM 50 discovered a small
    discrepancy in the inventory of missile propellant at one site. During
    this inspection, the Iraqi side argued that UNSCOM should not be
    permitted to use Global Positioning System equipment to identify the
    precise locations of sites visited. Iraq alleges inaccurately that such
    readings were used by the U.S. military to target the Al Zaafaraniyah
    site. UNSCOM rejected this argument. On February 22, the team was
    redesignated as UNSCOM 51 and searched for possible SCUD sites west of
    Baghdad.
        Iraqi harassment of inspectors and interference with UNSCOM and IAEA
    activities have resumed, after a lull immediately following the attack
    on Al Zaafaraniyah. Iraqi authorities also threatened to shoot down a
    helicopter performing support for a ground inspection that UNSCOM 51
    was carrying out. In early February, an Iraqi, possibly an official
    ``minder'' for the inspectors, threw a rock through the window of an
    UNSCOM vehicle.
        Iraq continues to refuse to provide the United Nations and IAEA with
    a comprehensive list of the suppliers for its WMD programs. Moreover, it
    refuses to accept U.N. Security Council Resolution 715, which mandates
    the creation of a long-term monitoring regime for Iraq's WMD
    infrastructure. The international community must insist on such long-
    term monitoring.
        The United Nations has continued its work to settle the Iraq-Kuwait
    border. The Iraq-Kuwait Boundary Demarcation Commission continues its
    work, without Iraqi participation. At its December meeting, the
    Commission agreed to begin to demarcate the offshore section of the
    boundary ``with the principal purpose . . . being

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    navigational access for both parties.''
        In response to continued Iraqi violations of the border and the
    demilitarized zone (DMZ), the U.N. Security Council adopted Resolution
    806 on February 5. The Resolution clarified that the United Nations
    Iraq-Kuwait Observer Mission (UNIKOM) can take any necessary actions to
    prevent such violations and authorized a potential increase in UNIKOM
    forces from 250 to 3,600 troops. The United Nations is seeking to
    identify countries willing to contribute an armed battalion for this
    purpose.
        Evidence continues to mount concerning the massive extent of the
    Iraqi Government's human rights violations, both before and after the
    Persian Gulf War. Max van der Stoel, Rapporteur of the U.N. Human Rights
    Commission, has produced compelling evidence of Iraqi atrocities against
    the civilian population in southern Iraq. We support the Rapporteur's
    proposal to place human rights monitors throughout Iraq.
        Iraq's campaigns of repression against its own people underline the
    importance of international actions to protect Iraq's civilian
    populations. Acts of violence and terrorism continue at the behest of
    the Government of Iraq in violation of U.N. Security Council Resolutions
    687 and 688. The ``no-fly zones'' over northern and southern Iraq seek
    to monitor Iraq's compliance with U.N. Security Council Resolution 688.
    Since the no-fly zone was instituted in southern Iraq last year, Iraq's
    use of aircraft in aggression against its population in the region has
    stopped. The no-fly zone in the north has also prevented use of fixed or
    rotary wing aircraft against the local population there. Other acts of
    repression continue, however, underscoring the need for U.N. monitors.
        The international community has continued its efforts, consistent
    with Security Council resolutions, to alleviate suffering in Iraq. The
    United States is working closely with the United Nations and other
    organizations to provide humanitarian relief to the people of northern
    Iraq, in the face of Iraqi Government efforts to disrupt this
    assistance. We support new U.N. efforts to mount a relief program for
    persons in Baghdad and the south, but the United Nations must be able to
    prevent the Iraqi Government from diverting supplies.
        The U.N. sanctions regime exempts medicine and requires only that
    the U.N. Sanctions Committee be notified of food shipments. In
    accordance with paragraph 20 of Resolution 687, the Committee received
    notices of 17 million tons of foodstuffs to be shipped to Iraq through
    January 1993. The Sanctions Committee also continues to consider and,
    when appropriate, approve requests to send to Iraq materials and
    supplies for essential civilian needs.
        The Iraqi Government, in contrast, has for months maintained a full
    embargo against its northern provinces, in violation of U.N. Security
    Council Resolution 688, and has acted to distribute humanitarian
    supplies only to its supporters and to the military. It has also refused
    to utilize the opportunity under Resolutions 706 and 712 to sell up to
    $1.6 billion in oil, proceeds from which could be used by Iraq to
    purchase foodstuffs, medicines, materials, and supplies for essential
    civilian needs of its populations; the distribution of these supplies
    would be monitored by the United Nations. (These proceeds could also be
    used to finance essential U.N. activities concerning Iraq.) The Iraqi
    authorities bear full responsibility for any suffering in Iraq that
    results from their refusal to implement Resolutions 706 and 712.
        The United States has recently transmitted to the United Nations a
    report on Iraqi violations of international humanitarian law committed
    during the Gulf War. This report provides the international community
    with a documented record of Iraqi crimes. We encourage others to
    transmit whatever information they have on Iraqi violations of
    international humanitarian law to the United Nations in accordance with
    U.N. Security Council Resolution 674.
        Since January 19, the U.N. Compensation Commission has continued to
    prepare for the processing of claims from individuals, corporations,
    other entities, governments, and international organizations that
    suffered direct loss or damage as a result of Iraq's unlawful invasion
    and occupation of Kuwait. The Commission has received about 400,000
    claims to date. The next session of the Governing Council of the
    Commission is scheduled to be held in Geneva March 29 to April 2, 1993,
    with another meeting in July 1993.
        Iraq has not met its obligations concerning Kuwaitis and third-
    country nationals its detained during the war. The Government of Kuwait
    has compiled over 600 files on missing individuals. Although Iraq has
    received this information through the International Committee of the Red
    Cross (ICRC), it has taken no substantive steps to comply with Security
    Council Resolution 687,

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    which requires that Iraq cooperate fully with the ICRS. Regional
    organizations have also been engaged--thus far to no avail--in trying to
    obtain Iraqi compliance on the issue of detainees. We continue to work
    for Iraqi compliance and the release of all those detained in Iraq.
        The United States and out allies continue to press the Government of
    Iraq to return all property and equipment removed from Kuwait by Iraq.
    Iraq continues to withhold necessary cooperation on these issues and to
    resist unqualified ICRC access to detention facilities in Iraq.
        We will continue to seek to maintain Iraq's territorial integrity. A
    future government that represents all the people of Iraq and that is
    committed to the territorial integrity and unity of Iraq would be a
    stabilizing force in the Gulf region. In this regard, we are encouraged
    by recent efforts of the Iraq National Congress (INC) to develop broad-
    based, indigenous opposition to the Baghdad regime. A democratic and
    pluralistic government would be the best guarantor of the future of the
    Iraqi people.
        My Administration does not seek to use force, but we will not shrink
    from using force in self-defense or as authorized by U.N. Security
    Council resolutions to compel Iraq's compliance with their terms. I am
    grateful for the support of the Congress for these efforts.
        Sincerely,

                                                                Bill Clinton

    Note: Identical letters were sent to Thomas S. Foley, Speaker of the
    House of Representatives, and Robert C. Byrd, President pro tempore of
    the Senate.