[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.