[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
[August 2, 1999]
[Pages 1365-1369]
[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
August 2, 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 May 19, 1999.
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Overview
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 vital U.S.
interests. We will continue to contain these threats, but over the long
term, the best way to address them is by encouraging the establishment
of a new government in Baghdad. To this end, we continue to work
intensively with the Iraqi opposition. In May, the Iraqi National
Congress (INC) Interim Presidency Committee met with the Secretary of
State, the National Security
Advisor, and several Members of Congress in
Washington. The Department of State has been assisting the INC in its
preparations for a National Assembly meeting. Also, the Department has
been working with other nongovernmental organizations to develop
projects to assist the Iraqi opposition and the Iraqi people in their
efforts to achieve a regime change. In June, delegations from the two
main Kurdish parties traveled to Washington to discuss the next steps in
implementing the reconciliation agreement they signed in Washington last
year.
During the last 60 days, we have also been working with members of
the UNSC to build support to adopt a resolution that would reestablish
an effective disarmament and monitoring presence inside Iraq, better
meet the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people, and increase pressure
on Iraq to account for those missing from the Gulf War, and return
Kuwaiti property. The Security Council is currently continuing its
discussions on these matters.
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. On May 21, the Security Council
unanimously adopted Resolution 1242, extending the program for another
180 days.
U.S. and Coalition Force Levels in the Gulf Region
Saddam Hussein's record of aggressive
behavior necessitates the deployment of a highly capable force in the
region in order to deter Iraq from threatening its neighbors,
reconstituting its WMD program, or moving against the Kurds in Northern
Iraq. 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 are a balanced mix of land and carrier-based aircraft,
surface ships, a Patriot missile battalion, a mechanized battalion task
force, and special operations units. To enhance force protection
throughout the region, additional military security personnel are also
deployed.
Operation Northern Watch and Operation Southern Watch
Aircraft of the United States and coalition partners enforcing the
no-fly zones over Iraq under Operations Northern Watch and Southern
Watch are regularly illuminated by radar and engaged by anti-aircraft
artillery, and occasionally, by surface-to-air missiles.
As a result of Iraq's no-fly zone violations and attacks on our
aircraft, our aircrews continue to respond with force. United States and
coalition forces are fully prepared and authorized to defend themselves
against Iraqi threats while carrying out their no-fly zone enforcement
mission and, when circumstances warranted, have engaged various
components of the Iraqi integrated air defense system. While threats to
our aircraft continue, actual Iraqi aircraft violations of the no-fly
zones have declined.
The Maritime Interception Force
The multinational Maritime Interception Force (MIF), operating in
accordance with Resolution 665 and other relevant resolutions, continues
to enforce 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 assets 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 and personnel support to the MIF, and accept vessels diverted
for violating U.N. sanctions against Iraq.
The smuggling of refined petroleum products through the Gulf has
remained at a low level since Operation Desert Fox. The MIF, and our
ability rapidly to augment it, will continue to serve as a critical
deterrent to both the smuggling of petroleum products out of the Gulf
and the smuggling of prohibited items into Iraq.
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UNSCOM/IAEA: Weapons of Mass Destruction
There has been no United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) or
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) presence in Iraq since
December 15, 1998. UNSCOM informed the Security Council on June 1 of the
status of UNSCOM's chemical laboratory, biological room, equipment, and
components in the Baghdad Monitoring and Verification Center (BMVC). The
Canal Hotel houses UNSCOM offices along with those of other U.N.
activities in Iraq, such as the Office of the Iraq Programme, which
implements the oil-for-food program. UNSCOM has analytical equipment and
materials it would like to see removed in a straightforward technical
operation as a precaution. The samples include less than one kilogram of
seized Iraqi mustard agent. There are no immediate safety concerns. In
June, UNSCOM recommended to the Security Council that UNSCOM send a team
of experts to destroy the conventional lab chemicals, chemical
standards, and biological samples, and request that Iraq cooperate. In
July the U.N. Secretariat, in consultation with UNSCOM, deputized a team
of experts to decommission the lab. UNSCOM provided an operations plan
for the mission to the Secretariat. UNSCOM and U.S. experts trained the
U.N. team in Bahrain. The U.N. team consisted of an UNSCOM
administrator, a biologist from a German university, and four experts
from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
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.
Since the withdrawal of UNSCOM and IAEA monitors, only some limited
monitoring in certain sectors is being conducted by the U.N. Office of
the Iraq Programme inspectors. This situation has presented new
challenges for the U.N. Sanctions Committee and is a factor in the
contract approval process. As a precautionary matter, the United States
has placed holds on a number of dual-use contracts that might otherwise
have been approved.
The U.N. 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. On May 21, the Security Council unanimously adopted
Resolution 1242, extending the program for another 180 days. As in phase
five, Iraq is again authorized to sell up to $5.2 billion worth of oil
in the coming 180 days. Because of the increase in world oil prices and
increased exports, Iraq may reach the ceiling during this phase. As of
June 14, U.N. reporting indicates that since the start of the oil-for-
food program, 5,375 contracts for humanitarian goods worth over $7
billion have been approved with 389 contracts worth $351 million on hold
and approximately 1,000 contracts in various stages of processing in the
United Nations.
Within the oil-for-food program, Resolution 1242 maintains a
separate program for northern Iraq, administered directly by the United
Nations in consultation with the local population. This program, which
the United States strongly supports, ensures that when Iraq contracts
for the purchase of humanitarian goods, 13 to 15 percent of the funds
generated under the oil-for-food program are spent on items for northern
Iraq. The separate northern program was established because of Baghdad's
repression and disregard for the humanitarian needs of the Kurdish,
Assyrian, Yezidi, and Turkoman minorities in northern Iraq.
Humanitarian programs such as oil-for-food have steadily improved
the life of the average Iraqi living under sanctions while denying
Saddam Hussein control over Iraq's oil
revenues. Currently, the ration basket provides over 2,000 calories per
day per Iraqi. 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
political or economic benefits to the Baghdad regime. In addition, we
are working with the United Nations and other Security Council members
to mitigate the effects of the current drought in Iraq.
Northern Iraq: Kurdish Reconciliation
In June, delegations from the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and
the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) traveled to Washington to discuss
the next steps in implementing
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the accord they signed in September 1998. Consensus was achieved on a
number of confidence-building measures, including opening party offices
in major cities throughout northern Iraq, eschewing negative press
statements, countering the divisive influence of the Kurdistan Workers'
Party (PKK), beginning the return of internally displaced persons, and
creating a voter registration commission for upcoming elections. The
delegations discussed other issues, such as revenue sharing, internal
security, and the formation of an interim joint regional assembly and
administration. They will continue these talks in northern Iraq and seek
to implement steps that were agreed.
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. That resolution
explicitly notes that the consequences of the regime's repression of its
own people constitute a threat to international peace and security in
the region. It also demands immediate access by international
humanitarian aid organizations to all Iraqis in need. However, for over
7 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 been allowed into Iraq.
Severe repression continues 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 has repeatedly ignored
appeals by Max Van der Stoel and others
for access by human rights monitors to investigate these reports. The
human rights monitors have asked to investigate the alleged
assassination of three of Iraq's most senior Islamic clerics: Ayatollah
Mohammed al-Sader in February 1999, Ayatollah Borujerdi in April 1998,
and Ayatollah al-Gharavi in June 1998.
In the north, outside the Kurdish-controlled areas, the government
continues the forced expulsion of ethnic Kurds and Turkomans from Kirkuk
and other cities.
The Iraqi Opposition
We are deepening our engagement with the forces of change in Iraq,
helping Iraqis both 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, and respects the rights of its
citizens. We believe that a change of regime in Baghdad is inevitable,
and that it is urgently incumbent on the world community to support the
Iraqis who are working to ensure that change is positive. These Iraqis
include the resistance inside the country, and those free Iraqis now in
exile or in northern Iraq, who seek to improve the chances that the next
government of Iraq will truly represent, serve, and protect all the
Iraqi people.
The INC has stepped up its activities since the April 7-8 meeting of
the Executive Council at Windsor. The Interim Presidency Committee
visited Washington from May 24 to May 28 for meetings with the Secretary
of State, the National Security Advisor, and several Members of
Congress. In a demonstration of the growing cohesion among the Iraqi
opposition, the INC leadership was accompanied by other key Sunni
opposition leaders. The INC also sent a delegation to the United Nations
in May to discuss humanitarian and human rights issues.
Over the last several weeks, the INC Executive Committee met again
in London and the Interim Presidency Committee has worked on
preparations for their National Assembly. The Department of State
assisted the INC in these efforts by funding conference planning
services with Economic Support Funds. Using these same funds, the
Department of State worked with other nongovernmental organizations to
develop projects to assist the Iraqi opposition and the Iraqi people in
their efforts to achieve regime change.
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 approximately
$10 billion.
Thirty percent of the proceeds from authorized oil sales are
allocated to the Compensation Fund to pay awards and finance UNCC
operations. The UNCC Governing Council has determined that certain small
claims by individuals will receive initial payments of $2,500, before
paying larger claims of either individuals or businesses and government
agencies. In June, the
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Governing Council established the rules for making payments on the
remaining small claims and the larger individual, corporate, and
government claims. To date, the U.S. Government has received funds from
the UNCC for initial installment payments for approximately 2,288 U.S.
claimants.
Conclusion
Iraq remains a serious threat to international peace and security. I
remain determined to see Iraq fully comply with all of its obligations
under 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.