[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 30, Number 32 (Monday, August 15, 1994)]
[Pages 1637-1640]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Letter to Congressional Leaders on Iraq

August 5, 1994

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 U.N. 
Security Council.
    The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has effectively 
disbanded the Iraqi nuclear weapons program at least for the near term. 
The United Nations has destroyed Iraqi missile launchers, support 
facilities, and a good deal of Iraq's indigenous capability to 
manufacture prohibited missiles. U.N. Special Commission on Iraq 
(UNSCOM) teams have reduced Iraq's ability to produce chemical weapons.
    Notably, UNSCOM's Chemical Destruction Group (CDG) concluded its 
activities on June 14 after establishing an excellent record of 
destroying Iraq's stocks of chemical munitions, agents, precursor 
chemicals, and equipment procured for chemical weapons production. With 
as many as 12 nations participating at any one time, the CDG destroyed 
over 480,000 liters of chemical warfare agents, over 28,000 chemical 
munitions, and over 1,040,000 kilograms and 648 barrels of some 45 
different precursor chemicals for the production of chemical warfare 
agents.
    Significant gaps in accounting for Iraq's weapons of mass 
destruction (WMD) programs remain, however. This is particularly true in 
the biological weapons area. Due to Iraq's insistence that the relevant 
documentation on its past programs has been destroyed, UNSCOM has had to 
resort to other, more time-consuming procedures to fill in the gaps.
    The United Nations is now preparing a long-term monitoring regime 
for Iraq as required by U.N. Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 715. 
This program must be carefully designed if it is to be so thorough that 
Iraq cannot rebuild a covert program, as it did before the Gulf War, 
when it claimed to be in compliance with the Nonproliferation Treaty. 
Continued vigilance is necessary because we believe that Saddam Hussein 
is committed to rebuilding his WMD capability once sanctions are lifted.
    It is, therefore, extremely important that this monitoring regime be 
effective, comprehensive, and sustainable. A program of this magnitude 
is unprecedented and will require continued, substantial assistance for 
UNSCOM from supporting nations. Rigorous and extensive trial and field 
testing will be required before UNSCOM can judge the program's 
effectiveness. The Secretary General's report of June 24 has detailed 
those areas where work remains to be done.
    Rolf Ekeus, the Chairman of UNSCOM, has told Iraq that it must 
establish a clear track record of compliance before he can report 
favorably to the Security Council. Chairman Ekeus has said he expects to 
be able to report by September on the start-up of the long-term 
monitoring program. We strongly endorse Chairman Ekeus' approach and 
reject any attempt to limit UNSCOM's flexibility by the establishment of 
a timetable for determining whether Iraq has complied with UNSCR 715. We 
insist on a sustained period of complete and unquestionable compliance 
with the monitoring and verification plans.
    The ``no-fly zones'' over northern and southern Iraq permit the 
monitoring of Iraq's compliance with UNSCRs 687 and 688. Over the last 3 
years, the northern no-fly zone has deterred Iraq from a major military 
offensive in the region. Tragically, on April 14, 1994, two American 
helicopters in the no-fly zone were shot down by U.S. fighter aircraft 
causing 26 casualties. The Department of Defense has completed and made 
public the un- 

[[Page 1638]]

classified portions of the investigation into the circumstances 
surrounding this incident.
    In southern Iraq, the no-fly zone has stopped Iraq's use of aircraft 
against its population. However, Iraqi forces still wage a land-based 
campaign in the marshes, and the shelling of marsh villages continues.
    In the spring of 1994, the Iraqi military intensified its campaign 
to destroy the southern marshes, launching a large search-and-destroy 
operation. The operation has included the razing of villages 
concentrated in the triangle bounded by An Nasiriya, Al Qurnah, and 
Basrah. Iraqi government engineers are draining the marshes of the 
region while the Iraqi Army is systematically burning thousands of 
dwellings to ensure that the marsh inhabitants are unable to return to 
their ancestral homes. The population of the region, whose marsh culture 
has remained essentially unchanged since 3500 B.C., has in the last few 
years been reduced by an estimated three-quarters.
    As a result of the ``browning'' of the marshes, civilian inhabitants 
continue to flee toward Iran, as well as deeper into the remaining 
marshes. This campaign is a clear violation of UNSCR 688. In northern 
Iraq, in the vicinity of Mosul, we continue to watch Iraqi troop 
movements carefully. Iraq's intentions remain unclear.
    Iraq still refuses to recognize Kuwait's sovereignty and the 
inviolability of the U.N. demarcated border, which was reaffirmed by the 
Security Council in UNSCRs 773 and 833. Iraq has not met its obligations 
concerning Kuwaitis and third-country nationals it detained during the 
war and has taken no substantive steps to cooperate fully with the 
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), as required by UNSCR 
687. Indeed, Iraq refused even to attend the ICRC meetings held in July 
and November 1993 to discuss these issues. While Iraq did attend such a 
meeting in July 1994, it provided no substantive information on missing 
individuals. Iraq also has not responded to more than 600 files on 
missing individuals. We continue to press for Iraqi compliance and 
regard Iraq's actions on these issues as essential to the resolution of 
conflict in the region.
    The Special Rapporteur of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights 
(UNHRC), Max van der Stoel, continues to report on the human rights 
situation in Iraq, particularly the Iraqi military's repression against 
its civilian populations in the marshes. The Special Rapporteur asserted 
in this February 1994 report that the Government of Iraq has engaged in 
war crimes and crimes against humanity, and may have committed 
violations of the 1948 Genocide Convention. Regarding the Kurds, the 
Special Rapporteur has judged that the extent and gravity of reported 
violations place the survival of the Kurds in jeopardy.
    The Special Rapporteur has noted that there are essentially no 
freedoms of opinion, expression, or association in Iraq. Torture is 
widespread in Iraq and results from a system of state-terror 
successfully directed at subduing the population. The Special Rapporteur 
repeated his recommendation for the establishment of human rights 
monitors strategically located to improve the flow of information and to 
provide independent verification of reports.
    We are pressing for the deployment of human rights monitors and we 
strongly support their placement. We are gratified that the United 
Nations recently hired a part-time staffer for the Special Rapporteur. 
This is an important step, though not the full program of monitors we 
seek. Van der Stoel's mandate has been extended through February 1995. 
We will file additional reports to the U.N. General Assembly in the fall 
and to the UNHRC in early 1995. We are also pursuing efforts to 
investigate and publicize Iraqi crimes against humanity, war crimes, and 
other violations of international humanitarian law.
    Examples of Iraqi noncooperation and noncompliance continue in other 
areas. For instance, reliable reports have indicated that the Government 
of Iraq is offering reward money for terrorist acts against U.N. and 
humanitarian relief workers in Iraq. And for 3 years there has been a 
clear pattern of criminal acts linking the Government of Iraq to a 
series of assassinations and attacks in northern Iraq on relief workers, 
U.N. guards, and foreign journalists. Ten persons have been injured and 
two have been killed in such attacks this year. The offering of bounty 
for such acts, as well as the commission of such

[[Page 1639]]

acts, in our view constitute violations of UNSCRs 687 and 688.
    The Security Council maintained sanctions at its July 18th regular 
60-day review of Iraq's compliance with its obligations under relevant 
resolutions. Despite ongoing efforts by the Iraqi government to convince 
Security Council members to lift sanctions, member countries were in 
agreement that Iraq is not in compliance with resolutions of the 
Council, and that existing sanctions should remain in force unchanged.
    The sanctions regime exempts medicine and, in the case of 
foodstuffs, requires only that the U.N. Sanctions Committee be notified 
of food shipments. 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 continued to maintain a full embargo against its northern 
provinces and has acted to distribute humanitarian supplies throughout 
the country only to its supporters and to the military.
    The Iraqi government has refused to sell $1.6 billion in oil, as 
previously authorized by the Security Council in UNSCRs 706 and 712, to 
pay for humanitarian goods. Talks between Iraq and the United Nations on 
implementing these resolutions ended unsuccessfully in October 1993. 
Iraq could use proceeds from such sales to purchase foodstuffs, 
medicines, and materials and supplies for essential civilian needs of 
its population, subject to U.N. monitoring of sales and the equitable 
distribution of humanitarian supplies (including to its northern 
provinces). Iraq's refusal to implement UNSCRs 706 and 712 continues to 
cause needless suffering.
    Proceeds from oil sales also would be used to compensate persons 
injured by Iraq's unlawful invasion and occupation of Kuwait. Of note 
regarding oil sales, discussions are underway with Turkish officials 
concerning the possible flushing of Iraqi oil now in the Turkish 
pipeline that extends from Iraq through Turkey. The flushing is 
necessary to preserve the pipeline that would then be resealed. The 
proceeds would be deposited in a U.N. escrow account and used by Turkey 
to purchase humanitarian goods for Iraq.
    The U.N. Compensation Commission (UNCC) has received about 2.4 
million claims so far, with another 100,000 expected. The United States 
Government has now filed a total of 8 sets of individual claims with the 
Commission, bringing U.S. claims filed to about 3,200 with a total 
asserted value of over $205 million. One panel of UNCC Commissioners 
recently submitted its report on the first installment of individual 
claims for serious personal injury or death. The UNCC Commissioners' 
report recommended awards for a group of about 670 claimants, of which 
11 were U.S. claimants. The Governing Council of the UNCC approved the 
panel's recommendations at its session in later May. This summer the 
first U.S. claimants are expected to receive compensation for their 
losses. The UNCC Commissioners are expected to finish reviewing by the 
end of the year all claims filed involving death and serious personal 
injury.
    In the fall, the UNCC Commissioners are also expected to issue 
reports on two other groups of claims. The first group involves persons 
who were forced to depart suddenly from Kuwait or Iraq during the 
invasion and occupation. The second group involves claimants who 
sustained itemized individual losses; e.g., lost salary or personal 
property. Panels of Commissioners have been meeting this summer to 
prepare their recommendations on those claims.
    With respect to corporate claims, the United States filed two more 
groups of claims with the UNCC in June. Along with our initial filing in 
early May, the United States Government has filed a total of 
approximately $1.4 billion in corporate claims against the Government of 
Iraq, representing almost 140 business entities. Those claims 
represented a multitude of enterprises ranging from small family-owned 
businesses to large multinational corporations.
    The United States Government also expects to file five Government 
claims with the UNCC this August. The five claims are for non-military 
losses, such as damage to Government property (e.g., the U.S. Embassy 
compound in Kuwait) and the costs of evacuating U.S. nationals and their 
families from Kuwait and Iraq. These Government claims have an asserted 
value of about $17 million.

[[Page 1640]]

In the future, the United States Government also intends to file one or 
more additional Government claim(s) involving the costs of monitoring 
health risks associated with oil well fires and other environmental 
damage in the Persian Gulf region.
    It is clear that Iraq can rejoin the community of civilized nations 
only through democratic processes, respect for human rights, equal 
treatment of its people, and adherence to basic norms of international 
behavior. The Government of Iraq should represent all of Iraq's people 
and be committed to the territorial integrity and unity of Iraq. The 
Iraqi National Congress (INC) espouses these goals, the fulfillment of 
which would make Iraq a stabilizing force in the Gulf region.
    We will continue to press to achieve Iraq's full compliance with all 
relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions. Until that time, the United 
States will maintain all the sanctions and other measures designed to 
achieve full compliance.
    The continuing support by the Congress of our efforts is especially 
gratifying.
    Sincerely,
                                            William J. 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. This item was not received in time for publication in the 
appropriate issue.