Issue No. 610
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31 Oct. - 6 Nov. 2002 Issue No. 610 Region |
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Stalemate over Iraq
The Security Council and the US continue to disagree on Iraq and how to handle disarmament, reports Anayat Durrani from Washington
The United States has shown no signs of backing down from its hard-line stance toward Iraq despite a growing global anti-war sentiment. The Bush administration, backed by Britain, continues to press for a UN Security Council resolution that would call for tough new rules for UN weapons inspectors, and for "serious consequences" if Iraq fails to comply. Patience in Washington is wearing thin as the Security Council remains divided over the wording of a resolution.
About 100,000 demonstrators gathered in Washington D C this week to protest against a strike on Iraq (photo: Reuters)
"If the UN does not pass a resolution which holds him accountable and that has consequences, then as I said in speech after speech after speech, if the UN won't act, if Saddam won't disarm, we will lead a coalition to disarm him," said President Bush while attending the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (OPEC) summit, a meeting of Asian and Pacific leaders that was held in Mexico.
The US-supported resolution would give complete access to UN arms inspectors within 30 days and threatens "serious consequences" if Iraq fails to cooperate. It would also hold Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in "material breach" of existing resolutions requiring him to give up those programmes.
Russia and France, permanent members of the Security Council with veto power, challenged the new US resolution on Friday by introducing their own versions. Both countries put forth proposals dropping language that could be interpreted as an approbation for United States-led military action. Russia supports the current inspection rules which force Iraq to disarm and excludes language that contains references to "material breach" and "serious consequences". These phrases are the most contentious in the US proposal, as they are seen as providing the US with a UN sanction for military action.
France, which sees its draft as middle ground between the US and Russian drafts, deletes the "material breach" language contained in the US draft that could justify military action and seeks to amend some Bush administration inspection proposals.
Russia and France are calling on the Security Council to take a two-stage approach to Iraq. The first stage would produce a resolution aimed at bringing weapons inspectors back into Iraq for disarmament followed by a second resolution only if Iraqi President Saddam Hussein fails to cooperate. This second resolution would then outline the next appropriate course of action.
The Security Council resolution has been subject to strong debate since Bush addressed the UN General Assembly on 12 September when he cautioned that the US was prepared to militarily act alone if the UN fails to disarm Iraq. Days later Iraq announced it would allow the return of UN weapons inspectors to the country after nearly four years. The Bush administration accuses Iraq of developing chemical, biological and nuclear weapons in direct defiance of UN resolutions passed during the 1991 Gulf War. During a 7 October speech, Bush told Americans that Hussein has the capability to use weapons of mass destruction and might be plotting an attack against the
US or providing weapons to terrorists. Iraq has repeatedly denied these charges.
During six weeks of intense negotiations, the five veto-wielding permanent council members -- Britain, China, Russia, France and the US -- could not come to an agreement over a new approach to Iraq. The 15- member Security Council now has three documents to review regarding Iraq. The US has in recent days shown that its patience is running out and that it wants a resolution from the Security Council within the next week. "We have reached the point where we have to make a few fundamental decisions in the early part of next week and go forward," said Secretary of State Colin Powell from the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit. "We can't continue to have a debate that never ends."
Bush has been working on building a coalition against the Iraqi leader that may exclude the UN. The Bush administration is prepared to confront the Iraqi leader and has more than once expressed its willingness to take on Iraq alone. Bush has stated that ultimately his goal is "regime change" in Iraq, namely to oust Hussein once and for all. Bush sought support for the new UN resolution from Chinese President Jiang Zemin during their recent meeting at the Bush ranch in Crawford, Texas. However, China has not indicated whether it will or will not support a US draft resolution. At the United Nations in New York, China's UN ambassador said on Friday the words "material breach" in the US draft "could have different interpretations".
Meanwhile, the Bush administration has come under scrutiny for its divergent policies on North Korea and Iraq. North Korea announced it had violated a 1994 agreement with the United States, Japan and South Korea to control its nuclear programme. While the US is actively pursuing a policy of threatened military action with Iraq, it has sought diplomatic pressure in dealing with North Korea. National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice cautioned against "cookie cutter foreign policy" on the CBS news programme "Face the Nation" saying "Iraq is in a class by itself."
Rice explained that Iraq's expulsion of UN weapons inspectors, invasion of neighbouring countries, and use of weapons of mass destruction against its own people were all factors for threatening military action against the country. She said North Korea's desire to improve its economy makes diplomatic efforts more likely to be a successful option. "And North Korea provides opportunities, we believe, for... a diplomatic solution because of the stake of the regional powers in... Korean Peninsula, because of North Korea's having to reach out not because of any philanthropic impulses, frankly, but because it is a regime that has deep economic troubles and is trying to deal with those troubles," she said.
While the Bush administration presses on with its plans for dealing with Iraq, tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets on Saturday, 26 October, in cities across Europe, the United States, and other parts of the world to protest the impending war against Iraq. Protests took place in Mexico, Japan, Spain, Germany, South Korea, Belgium and Australia. The demonstrations were planned by anti-war activists to coincide with large protests in San Francisco and Washington DC, where civil rights leader Jesse Jackson took part in the protest in front of the White House which attracted an estimated 50,000 protesters. Marchers urged Bush not to go to war with Iraq and demanded that sanctions against the country be lifted. Protesters also demanded that Bush spend the billions of dollars it would cost for a military campaign on social programmes in the United States and to concentrate on domestic issues rather than Iraq.
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