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WHAT NEXT IN
IRAQ?
(Extension of Remarks - February 26, 1998)
HON. ROBERT WEXLER
- Mr. WEXLER. Mr. Speaker, Saddam Hussein is the same brutal dictator today that he was when he gassed his own people with chemical weapons, starved them to death and machine-gunned them in mass graves. The only difference is that today he has been given a new lease on life by the United Nations. Don't get me wrong. I respect the negotiation effort by United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan in Iraq . He deserves the world's gratitude for avoiding war--for the time being.
- Annan's new agreement with Iraq , however, will not end the long term conflict between Iraq and the world community, and may ultimately create more problems than it resolves. One element of the agreement calls for a `Special Group' of senior diplomats and U.N. inspection experts to inspect the eight Presidential Sites in Iraq . With the inclusion of diplomats and politicians in the inspection effort, secrecy and surprise inspections will be compromised, and U.N. efforts to discover and eliminate Iraq's weapons of mass destruction will be severely handicapped.
- All of a sudden, international politics and the greed of countries like France and Russia for big profits in trade with Iraq are paramount to a successful U.N. effort to inspect and destroy dangerous weapons.
- By conceding in the U.N.-Iraq Agreement to bring the issue of lifting sanctions against Iraq to the Security Council, presumably before all inspections are completed and weapons destroyed, the world has handed Saddam Hussein a significant political victory. In fact, it would be a serious mistake to ease economic sanctions against Iraq . President Clinton correctly stated in his Pentagon speech that sanctions have already cost Hussein $110 billion, and the President aptly wondered how much stronger Hussein's armed forces would be today without sanctions.
- Bellyaching about the U.N.-Iraq Agreement, however, does not serve American interests well. Equally shortsighted is the effort to gear up for some future invasion of Iraq while our stated objective remains limited to the `substantial reduction' of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction capability. What the United States must do is commit herself to help the Iraqi people liberate their nation from Hussein's dictatorial reign.
- The Clinton Administration has incorrectly concluded that the only way to overthrow Hussein is with a massive ground invasion. This assessment grossly overestimates Iraq's military strength. The weaknesses of Iraq's forces were exposed during the Gulf War in 1991, and the Iraqi military is significantly weaker now, in great part because of the cumulative effect of years of sanctions. On the other hand, American intelligence and military preparedness to successfully strike Iraq are significantly stronger.
- Several Middle East experts, including Ambassador Paul Wolfowitz, Dean of International Studies at Johns Hopkins, have questioned the notion that only a comprehensive ground invasion by the U.S. can bring down Saddam Hussein. I am convinced that if we take the following steps, in addition to preparing for military action when the next inevitable crisis with Saddam Hussein occurs, we will help to facilitate democracy in Iraq and rid the world of a rogue dictator:
- 1. Challenge the claim of Saddam Hussein as the legitimate ruler of Iraq . No doubt this goal was made more difficult by the credibility Hussein has garnered through his new international agreement.
- 2. Make clear the intention of the United States to recognize a provisional government--a Free Iraq --and start with the Iraqi National Congress.
- 3. Find a mechanism to make the frozen assets of Iraq in the U.S. and elsewhere available to the anti-Hussein forces. The U.S. and U.K. alone have over $1.6 billion in frozen assets which should be used to finance democratic forces in Iraq .
- 4. Lift economic sanctions from regions in Iraq that are wrested from Saddam Hussein's control, and make oil resources available to the anti-Hussein forces for humanitarian needs and economic development.
- 5. Provide weapons and logistical support to the resistance, as well as air cover for liberated areas within the Southern and Northern no-fly zones.
- Saddam Hussein remains nothing less than an international war criminal who should stand trial for his crimes against humanity. He has broken every agreement he has made with the United States and the world community since the Gulf War. He will no doubt once again subvert this agreement, and when he does, we must be prepared to initiate military air strikes immediately aimed specifically at destroying Saddam's personal power infrastructure, including his communications network and the Republican guard.
- Seven years after the Gulf War, Saddam Hussein is still a menace to his own people and to world peace. Only by assisting the Iraqi people to liberate themselves will we prevent Hussein from becoming an even more serious threat seven years from now.