[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1999, Book I)]
[May 19, 1999]
[Pages 814-819]
[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
May 19, 1999
Dear Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:)
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). My last report consistent with Public
Law 102-1, was transmitted on March 3, 1999.
Overview
There have been no United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) or
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections in Iraq since
December 15, 1998. On January 30, 1999, the UNSC established three
assessment panels on Iraq to address disarmament, humanitarian, and
Kuwait-related issues. Brazilian Ambassador to the United Nations Celso
Amorim, who chaired the panels, presented the
panels' conclusions to the Security Council on April 6.
The disarmament panel confirmed UNSCOM's earlier findings that Iraq
has failed to comply with its obligations under UNSC resolutions, and
that significant disarmament issues have not yet been resolved. It also
confirmed the validity of the disarmament and monitoring plan endorsed
by Resolution 715.
The humanitarian panel noted that, despite considerable improvements
in the humanitarian situation since the oil-for-food program began,
serious problems remain. The report highlighted the Government of Iraq's
failure to order and distribute critical supplies, and its inequitable
distribution practices. It also identified a significant shortfall in
revenue for the oil-for-food program. This problem has been largely
caused by low oil prices during the last year, but Iraq's limited oil
production capabilities have also been a factor.
The Kuwait-issues panel cited Iraq's failure to comply with its
requirement to provide information on Kuwaiti and other missing persons
from the Gulf War, as well as its failure to comply with the requirement
to return property stolen during the Gulf War, including Kuwait's
national archives.
The 6-month reports submitted to the Security Council by Ambassador
Butler and IAEA Director-General Mohammed El
Baradei in April 1999 reflected the
refusal by Iraq to add substantively to their ability to resolve
outstanding disarmament and monitoring issues. In New York, UNSCOM
continued to implement its mandate: by assessing the situation on the
ground in Iraq after the military action in December, by choosing new
sites for future inspection, by refining inspection protocols, by
continuing a dialogue with member nations to obtain information about
Iraq's past and present activities, and by continuing to improve the
Export-Import Monitoring Mechanism.
The United States continues to support the international community's
efforts to provide for the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people
through the oil-for-food program.
We are convinced that as long as Saddam Hussein remains in power, he will continue to threaten the
well-being of his people, the peace of the region and the security of
the world. We will continue to contain these threats, but over the long
term the best way to address them is through a new government in
Baghdad.
[[Page 815]]
To that end, working with the Congress, we have deepened our engagement
with the forces of change in Iraq to help make the opposition a more
effective voice for the aspirations of the Iraqi people.
U.S. and Coalition Force Levels in the Gulf Region
Saddam Hussein's record of aggressive
behavior compels us to retain a highly capable force in the region in
order to deter Iraq and respond to any threat it might pose to its
neighbors, the reconstitution of its WMD program, or movement against
the Kurds in northern Iraq. We demonstrated our resolve in mid-December
when forces in the region carried out Operation Desert Fox to degrade
Iraq's ability to develop and deliver weapons of mass destruction and
its ability to threaten its neighbors. We will continue to maintain a
robust posture and have established a rapid reinforcement capability to
supplement our forces in the Gulf, if needed.
Our forces that deployed to the region include land- and carrier-
based aircraft, surface warships, a Patriot missile battalion, a
mechanized battalion task force and a mix of special operations forces
deployed in support of U.S. Central Command. To enhance force protection
throughout the region, additional military security personnel are also
deployed. Because of the increased air-defense threat to coalition
aircraft, we have also added a robust personnel recovery capability.
Operation Northern Watch and Operation Southern Watch
The United States and coalition partners enforcing the no-fly-zones
over Iraq under Operations Northern Watch and Southern Watch continue to
be subject to multiple anti-aircraft artillery firings and radar
illuminations, and have faced more than 35 surface-to-air missile
attacks. Additionally, since the conclusion of Desert Fox, Iraqi
aircraft have committed over 120 no-fly zone violations.
In response to Iraq's repeated no-fly-zone violations and attacks on
our aircraft, I have authorized our aircrews to respond directly and
forcibly to the increased Iraqi threat. United States and coalition
forces are fully prepared and authorized to defend themselves against
any Iraqi threat while carrying out their no-fly zone enforcement
mission and have, when circumstances warranted, engaged various
components of the Iraqi integrated air defense system. As a consequence,
the Iraqi air defense system has been degraded substantially since
December 1998.
The Maritime Interception Force
The multinational Maritime Interception Force (MIF), operating in
accordance with Resolution 665 and other relevant resolutions, enforces
U.N. sanctions in the Gulf. The U.S. Navy is the single largest
component of the MIF, but it is frequently augmented by ships, aircraft,
and other support from Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Kuwait, The
Netherlands, New Zealand, the UAE, and the United Kingdom. Member states
of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) provide logistical support and
shipriders to the MIF and accept vessels diverted for violating U.N.
sanctions against Iraq. Kuwait was especially helpful in providing
significant naval and coast guard assistance. We are expanding our
efforts to encourage participation in the MIF from nations in northern
Europe and South America.
Although the export of refined petroleum products through the Gulf
has significantly declined since Operation Desert Fox, the MIF continues
to patrol the waters to prevent a resurgence of petroleum-product
smuggling. Furthermore, the MIF provides a deterrent to ships smuggling
prohibited items into Iraq in violation of U.N. sanctions and outside
the parameters of the humanitarian oil-for-food program. In early April,
the MIF conducted the latest in a series of periodic search operations
in the far northern Gulf near the major Iraqi waterways. These
operations disrupted smuggling in the region without interference from
Iraq. Kuwait and the UAE have stepped up their own enforcement efforts.
In December 1998 and again in April 1999, Iraq relocated surface-to-
surface missile batteries to the coastal area of the Al Faw Peninsula.
The missiles in question, with a range of nearly 60 nautical miles,
could reach far into the North Arabian Gulf and posed a serious threat
to the MIF. The deployment of these missiles to a position from which
they could engage coalition naval forces was carried out in concert with
the increased attempts to shoot down aircraft enforcing the no-fly zones
and constituted an enhancement of Iraq's offensive military capability
in southern Iraq. On both occasions, coalition aircraft responded to the
threat posed by these
[[Page 816]]
missiles and are authorized to continue to do so as necessary.
Chemical Weapons
April reports to the UNSC President reconfirmed January's findings
that UNSCOM identified as priority chemical weapons disarmament issues:
VX; 155mm mustard shells; an Iraqi Air Force file of chemical weapons
documents; R-400 bombs filled with CBW (field inspections needed); and
chemical weapons production equipment (field verification is needed for
18 of 20 shipping containers UNSCOM knows were moved together). The
reporters identified as key monitoring priorities the ability to verify
Iraqi compliance at listed facilities and to detect construction of new
dual-use facilities.
Biological Weapons
April reports to the UNSC President reconfirmed January's findings
that UNSCOM identified as priority outstanding biological weapons
disarmament issues Iraq's incomplete declarations on ``the whole scope
of the BW program.'' The declarations are important because ``Iraq
possesses an industrial capability and knowledge base, through which
biological warfare agents could be produced quickly and in volume.'' The
report also identified the importance of monitoring dual-use biological
items, equipment, facilities, research and acquisition at 250 listed
sites. The effectiveness of monitoring is ``proportional to Iraq's
cooperation and transparency, to the number of monitored sites, and to
the number of inspectors.''
Long-Range Missiles
April reports to the UNSC President reconfirmed January's findings
that UNSCOM identified as priority missile disarmament issues: 50
unaccounted for, SCUD conventional warheads; 500 tons of SCUD
propellants, the destruction of which has not been verified; 7 Iraqi-
produced SCUDs given to the army, the destruction of which cannot be
verified; truckloads of major components for SCUD production that are
missing; the concealment of BW warheads; and the lack of accounting for
VX-filled warheads. The report identified the capability to monitor
declared activities, leaps in missile technology, and changes to
declared operational missiles. There are 80 listed missile sites.
Nuclear Weapons
In a February 8, 1999, report to the UNSC President, IAEA Director
General Mohammed El-Baradei summarized
previous IAEA assessments of Iraq's compliance with its nuclear
disarmament and monitoring obligations. The report restates that ``Iraq
has not fulfilled its obligation to adopt measures and enact penal laws,
to implement and enforce compliance with Iraq's obligations under
resolutions 687 and 707, other relevant Security Council resolutions and
the IAEA OMV plan, as required under paragraph 34 of that plan.''
The IAEA continues to plan for long-term monitoring and verification
under Resolution 715. In its February 8 report to the Security Council,
it restated that monitoring must be ``intrusive'' and estimated annual
monitoring costs would total nearly $10 million.
Dual-Use Imports
Resolution 1051 established a joint UNSCOM/IAEA unit to monitor
Iraq's imports of allowed dual-use items. Iraq must notify the unit
before it imports specific items that can be used in both weapons of
mass destruction and civilian applications. Similarly, U.N. members must
provide timely notification of exports to Iraq of such dual-use items.
Following the withdrawal of UNSCOM and IAEA monitors, there is no
monitoring by UNSCOM or IAEA inspectors of dual-use items inside Iraq,
although some limited monitoring in certain sectors can be carried out
by OIP inspectors. This factor has presented new challenges for the U.N.
Sanctions Committee and is taken into consideration in the approval
process. The United States has placed holds on a number of contracts
that might otherwise have been approved as a result.
The U.N.'s Oil-for-Food Program
We continue to support the international community's efforts to
provide for the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people through the oil-
for-food program. Transition from phase four to phase five (authorized
by UNSC Resolution 1210) was smooth. As in phase four, Iraq is again
authorized to sell up to $5.2 billion worth of oil every 180 days.
However, because of a drop in world oil prices, Iraq was only able to
pump and sell approximately $3.1 billion worth of oil in phase four;
recent increases in
[[Page 817]]
world prices should provide increased revenue for this phase of oil-for-
food.
As of April 5, under phase five of the oil-for-food program, 340
contracts worth nearly $1 billion have been approved. As of April 5, the
United States had 145 phase four and 13 phase five contracts on hold
pending clarification of questions about the proposed contracts.
Three assessment panels were formed in January to look at Iraqi
disarmament, the humanitarian situation in Iraq, and Iraq's obligations
regarding Kuwait. The panels presented their reports to the Security
Council in April. The United States supported an examination of the
current situation and exploration of ways to improve humanitarian
conditions, particularly with regard to vulnerable groups such as
children under age five and pregnant and nursing women. The United
States has expressed its support for raising the cap on Iraqi oil
exports under the oil-for-food program in order to meet humanitarian
needs, and for certain other proposals made by the humanitarian
assessment panel.
Resolution 1210 maintains a separate oil-for-food program for
northern Iraq, administered directly by the United Nations in
consultation with the local population. This program, which the United
States strongly supports, receives 13 to 15 percent of the funds
generated under the oil-for-food program. The separate northern program
was established because of the Baghdad regime's proven disregard for the
humanitarian needs of the Kurdish, Assyrian, Yezedi and Turkoman
minorities of northern Iraq, and its readiness to apply the most brutal
forms of repression against them. In northern Iraq areas where Baghdad
does not exercise control, the oil-for-food program has been able to
operate relatively effectively, as documented by the humanitarian
assessment panel. The Kurdish factions have set aside their differences
to work together so that Resolution 1210 is implemented as efficiently
as possible.
Humanitarian programs such as oil-for-food have steadily improved
the life of the average Iraqi living under sanctions (who, for example,
now receives a ration basket providing over 2,000 calories per day, a
significant improvement in nutrition since the program began) while
denying Saddam Hussein control over oil
revenues. We will continue to work with the U.N. Secretariat, the
Security Council, and others in the international community to ensure
that the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people are met while denying
any political or economic benefits to the Baghdad regime.
Northern Iraq: Kurdish Reconciliation
Since their ground-breaking meeting with Secretary
Albright in September 1998, Massoud
Barzani, President of the Kurdistan
Democratic Party (KDP), and Jalal Talabani,
Chairman of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), have met four times
to continue their work towards full reconciliation. Both parties have
condemned internal fighting, pledged to refrain from violence in
settling their differences, and resolved to eliminate terrorism by
establishing stronger safeguards for Iraq's borders. In particular, both
parties have committed themselves to deny sanctuary to the Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK), to eliminate all PKK bases from the region and to
safeguard the Turkish border. The parties believe that key decisions on
Iraq's future should be made by all the Iraqi people together at an
appropriate time and through a regular political process. Their work is
thus meant to implement a framework of regional administration until a
united, pluralistic, and democratic Iraq is achieved. A Higher
Coordination Committee (HCC) made up of senior representatives from the
PUK and the KDP meets regularly in northern Iraq, and Officials of the
State Department are in frequent contact with the parties to further the
reconciliation process.
The United States is committed to ensuring that international aid
continues to reach the north; that the human rights of the Kurds and
northern Iraq minority groups such as the Turkomans, Assyrians, Yezedis,
and others are respected; and that the no-fly zone enforced by Operation
Northern Watch is observed. The United States will decide how and when
to respond should Baghdad's action pose an increased threat to Iraq's
neighbors, to regional security, to vital U.S. interests, and to the
Iraqi people, including those in the north.
The Human Rights Situation in Iraq
The human rights situation in Iraq continues to fall far short of
international norms, in violation of Resolution 688. For over seven
years, the Iraqi government has refused to allow the U.N. Human Rights
Commission Special Rapporteur for Iraq, Max Van der Stoel, to visit Iraq. U.N. human rights monitors have
never
[[Page 818]]
been allowed in. Meanwhile, increasingly disturbing reports of the most
serious nature continue to emanate from Iraq. For example, 2,500
political prisoners have been summarily executed without due process of
law since Fall 1997, according to detailed reports Mr. Van der Stoel received. Often, the bodies are said to have
been returned to the victim's families showing clear signs of torture.
The assassination of three of Iraq's most senior Islamic clerics is
of special concern. In February, Ayatollah Mohammed al-Sader--the most
senior Shia cleric in Iraq--was assassinated, along with two of his
sons, after attending Friday prayers in Najaf. This follows the similar
killing of Sheikh Borojourdi in April 1998 and Ayatollah Ah al-Gharawi
in June 1998. In each case, the killings reportedly followed months of
arrests and interrogations by government security services, and have
been widely attributed to agents of the regime. The deaths also come in
the context of a resurgence of repression in southern Iraq, as the
regime works toward the destruction of the Marsh Arabs' way of life and
the unique ecology of the southern marshes. The regime also continues to
ignore appeals by Mr. Van der Stoel and
others for access by human rights monitors to investigate these reports.
In the north, outside the Kurdish-controlled areas, the government
continues the forced expulsion of ethnic Kurds and Turkomans from Kirkuk
and other cities. In recent months, hundreds of families have reportedly
been expelled from Kirkuk. Reports from the Kurdish-controlled areas
where the displaced persons are received indicate that they are forced
to leave behind almost all of their personal property. Due to a shortage
of housing, many are still living in temporary shelters.
The Iraqi Opposition
We are deepening our engagement with the forces of change in Iraq,
helping Iraqis inside and outside Iraq to become a more effective voice
for the aspirations of the people. We will work toward the day when Iraq
has a government worthy of its people--a government prepared to live in
peace with its neighbors, a government that respects the rights of its
citizens.
On April 7-8, the Executive Council of the Iraqi National Congress
met at Windsor, in the United Kingdom. The meeting produced three
important results: it elected a seven-member interim ``Presidency
Committee;'' it created an ``outreach committee'' to expand the INC's
membership and build links to regional states; and it decided that a
meeting of the INC National Assembly would be held no later than July 7,
at a site to be determined. We applaud the Council members for this
constructive, forward-looking meeting.
Senator Bob Kerrey of Nebraska attended
the meeting as U.S. observer along with Special Coordinator for the
Transition of Iraq, Frank Ricciardone, as well as other State Department officials and staff from
the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. I believe the joint U.S.
Executive-Congressional team underscores the deepening cooperation
within the U.S. Government on this important issue.
The interim INC Presidency Committee met for the first time on April
10. The group reportedly established a principle of rotating leadership
and discussed plans to send a delegation to the United Nations to
express views on humanitarian and human rights issues.
The United Nations Compensation Commission
The United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC), established
pursuant to Resolutions 687, 692, and 1210, continues to resolve claims
against Iraq arising from Iraq's unlawful invasion and occupation of
Kuwait. The UNCC has issued over 1.3 million awards worth over $7
billion. Thirty percent of the proceeds from the oil sales permitted by
UNSC resolutions have been allocated to the Compensation Fund to pay
awards and to finance operations of the UNCC. Pursuant to decisions of
the UNCC Governing Council, certain small claims are to receive initial
payments of $2,500 toward the amounts approved on those claims before
large claims of individuals and claims of corporations and governments
may share in the funds available for claims payments. As money from
Iraqi oil sales is deposited in the Compensation Fund, the UNCC makes
these initial $2,500 payments on eligible claims in the order in which
those claims were approved by the UNCC. To date, the U.S. Government has
received funds from the UNCC for initial installment payments on
approximately 1,685 claims of U.S. claimants.
Conclusion
Iraq remains a serious threat to international peace and security. I
remain determined to see Iraq comply fully with all of its obligations
under
[[Page 819]]
Security Council resolutions. The United States looks forward to the day
when Iraq rejoins the family of nations as a responsible and law-abiding
member. 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
Note: Identical letters were sent to J. Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the
House of Representatives, and Strom Thurmond, President pro tempore of
the Senate.