Security Council retools Iraq sanctions

U.N. officials want to put burden of aid on Iraqi president

PETER SLEVIN, THE WASHINGTON POST

Originally published Wednesday, May 8, 2002

WASHINGTON -- The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council have agreed to a fresh effort to slow the flow of military equipment to Saddam Hussein's government while easing the delivery of civilian goods to Iraq's isolated population.

The Bush administration, which has pressed for overhauling the 11-year-old sanctions policy since it took office last year, contends the new rules will eliminate any legitimate claim by Saddam that U.N. sanctions are responsible for suffering and starvation. Officials also hope the loosened filter on civilian goods will mollify the many critics of current policy.

Joint sponsorship of the resolution represents the culmination of months of U.S. diplomatic maneuvering that came together in recent weeks when Russian president Vladimir Putin dropped his objections. U.N. diplomats said the measure would win the backing of the 15-member Security Council, perhaps as early as Thursday.

Diplomats and foreign policy specialists said the sanctions change could become a useful public relations tool for the Bush team as it seeks to build support around the world for an expected military campaign to oust Saddam.

Improving the lot of citizens

"It deals with the psychological warfare that the Baghdad regime has mounted over the years, trying to blame the U.N. sanctions and the United States for humanitarian problems inside the country," said David Mack, a former U.S. diplomat at the Near East Institute in Washington, D.C. "It also improves relationships between the United States and other coalition partners."

The U.N. resolution also sets up Saddam for blame if the goods his government purchases with oil profits do not improve the lot of ordinary Iraqis, U.S. officials said Tuesday.

"If the Iraqi regime continues to subvert the oil-for-food program, the world will have another clear demonstration of the threat the regime poses to the Iraqi people," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. "It makes clear that the restrictions and lack of distribution of civilian goods inside Iraq is not due to any outside controls, but rather to the behavior of the Iraqi regime."

Under the measure, contracts for thousands of items from fiber optic cable to reinforced trucks would be subject to U.N. review for their potential use in Iraq's weapons development programs and armed forces. Non-military items will be cleared for delivery to Iraq faster than in the past, proponents say.

The administration, led by Secretary of State Colin Powell, began pressing for such a change within weeks of taking office last year. Officials wanted to squeeze Saddam harder to prevent him from rebuilding his military or sharpening his ability to manufacture and deploy weapons of mass destruction, from poison gas to armed missiles. Bush referred to the sanctions, first enacted following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, as "swiss cheese."

Fourteen of the 15 members of the Security Council agreed in principle to the program last summer, but Russia balked. Kremlin officials suspected the U.S.-led move was designed to perpetuate sanctions. Also, Russian companies continue to do business with Iraq and the Russian government maintains close ties with Saddam.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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