Excerpts from previous political updates, by subject

July 28, 2003

Fighting continues in post-war Iraq

Coalition forces continue to face violent attacks on the ground, months after U.S. President George W. Bush hailed the end of major combat operations on May 1. And over 150 coalition soldiers have been killed in action since the war began on March 20, more than the number killed during the first Gulf war.

U.S. forces still face armed and organized resistance, particularly in an area north of Baghdad known as the "Sunni triangle," considered a strong-hold of support for Saddam Hussein. In response to what appear to be coordinated attacks in this area, U.S. forces have gone on the offensive, launching a series of military operations aimed at rooting out the growing resistance movement. In the first operation, "Peninsula Strike," more than 3,000 soldiers, backed by F-15 fighters, AC-130 gunships and pilotless drones succeeded in rounding up about 400 Iraqi men. In operation "Desert Scorpion," thousands of U.S. soldiers carried out a series of raids in an arc of territory north of Baghdad, aimed at gathering information about the size and structure of Ba'athist resistance and capturing stockpiles of weapons and ammunition. The most recent operation, "Soda Mountain," sought to capture mid-level Ba'athist resistence leaders believed to be behind attacks on U.S. forces.

The IAEA returns to Iraq, briefly

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was allowed to return to Iraq from June 7 through 23, in order to inspect the nuclear material under safeguards at Location C of the Tuwaitha nuclear complex. The agency reported that though some of its seals had been removed, only about 10 kg of uranium compounds were dispersed, and none of the missing material was "sensitive from a proliferation point of view." However, the IAEA report summarizing its two-week mission in Iraq is notable for what it fails to mention: the status of stores of highly radioactive sources like cesium-137 and cobalt-160. Over 400 of these sources are stored in other parts of the Tuwaitha complex, to which IAEA inspectors did not have access. During its mission, the IAEA team was accompanied by U.S. military forces and was not allowed to examine any other nuclear sites in Iraq. The Bush administration's decision to allow an IAEA team to return to Iraq followed repeated warnings from the agency's Director General, Mohamed ElBaradei. ElBaradei warned of "the potential radiological safety and security implications of nuclear and radiological materials that may no longer be under control," particularly at the Tuwaitha nuclear complex.

Lifting sanctions at the United Nations

The United States scored a large political victory at the United Nations on May 22, when the Security Council voted 14-0 vote to lift over a decade of economic sanctions against Iraq and to endorse the U.S.-led efforts to rebuild the country. The near unanimous vote, with Syria absent, struck a rare note of accord among Security Council members. The seven-page resolution recognizes the U.S.-run provisional authority to "promote the welfare of the Iraqi people through the effective administration of the territory." The resolution shifts control of Iraq's oil industry to the United States and its allies, with oil revenue slated to pay for reconstruction, for an Iraqi civilian administration and for ongoing disarmament efforts. The revenue will be placed in the newly minted Development Fund of Iraq, controlled by the United States and its allies, and will be held in Iraq's Central Bank. A team of independent auditors to oversee the Fund will be selected by a financial advisory body, composed of representatives from international financial institutions and the United Nations.

Some 90 changes were made to the original draft. They included a strengthened role for the U.N. special representative appointed by Secretary-General Kofi Annan, a provision that allows the Security Council to review the resolution in 12 months, and the possible return of U.N. arms inspectors. The resolution also allowed Annan to extend the oil-for-food program for up to six months, and to honor existing contracts for humanitarian goods. However, one billion of the $13 billion dollars currently held by the oil-for-food program will be transferred to the U.S.-controlled Development Fund.

Despite this political victory at the United Nations, a number of controversial issues were left open, notably the search for mass destruction weapons in Iraq and troop contributions for peacekeeping operations. Many states remained unwilling to contribute to peacekeeping in Iraq without a stronger United Nations mandate and a clearer time frame on the length of deployment. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell suggested that the United States may return to the Security Council in search of an additional U.N. mandate, in order to encourage more nations to participate in peacekeeping operations. A number of states also argued that the lifting of sanctions should be linked to the return of U.N. weapons inspectors. Earlier, Britain too had favored an inspections role for the United Nations, saying it would confer greater validity on eventual "finds." However, the final resolution remained vague on this point. It "reaffirms that Iraq must meet disarmament obligations," but only "encourages" the coalition to keep the Security Council informed regarding progress on disarmament, and "underlines" plans to "revisit" the mandates of both the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the U.N. Monitoring, Verification, and Inspections Commission (UNMOVIC).