The Hindu : Iraq reminded of commitments

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Aug 10, 2002

International

International

Iraq reminded of commitments

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

Washington AUG. 9. The Bush administration has brushed aside the fiery speech of the Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, calling it "bluster'' and has once again pointed to all the commitments that Baghdad has not lived up to after the 1991 Gulf War.

"The Iraqi government needs to comply with the responsibilities it agreed to at the end of the Gulf War,'' said the White House spokesman, Scott McClellan, in Crawford, Texas, where the President, George W Bush, is vacationing.

"The President has not decided on a particular course of action...we will consult with our friends and allies as well as Congress as we move forward,'' he said.

The State Department was far tougher in its observations of Mr. Hussein's speech calling it "bluster from an internationally isolated dictator, demonstrative yet again that his regime shows no intention to live up to its obligations under U.N. Security Council obligations''.

At least one unnamed intelligence official has been quoted in an agency report as saying that Mr. Hussein's speech was "edgier and more bellicose'' than his typical statements and had more references to religion than usual.

"It could be an effort to garner more popular support by appealing to Islam and appealing to the Arab masses,'' he said.

At the heart of the debate in this city and country is not whether Mr. Hussein should be thrown out of power in Iraq, but how this is to be done. The Bush administration strongly believes in regime change through the military option.

Hawkish members of the Cabinet are continually talking of Baghdad flouting U.N. Resolutions and how that regime is a threat to the international system by acquiring and stockpiling weapons of mass destruction.

But there are those in the administration who say that Washington will have to factor in the implications of any military option in the Arab world.

The President has said that he has not ruled out the diplomatic option while pursuing the policy of regime change and the Vice-President, Dick Cheney, recently said that the United States would be seeking an international consensus.

In the immediate context, the issue is of the return of the United Nations Weapons Inspectors with Baghdad saying that it is ready to resume a dialogue to get this process moving. Washington and many at the United Nations are of the view that Mr. Hussein has come up with this latest tactic of a `dialogue' with a view to buying time.

Responding to Mr. Hussein's latest speech, the United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, remarked, "I don't see any change in attitude''.

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