Iraq maneuvering to end talk of war
By Steven Komarow, USA TODAY
BERLIN — Iraq, eager to undermine President Bush's threat of war, says it's open to a deal that would return U.N. arms inspectors to its soil for the first time since 1998.
"Let's solve the problem comprehensively," Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz said in advance of a meeting in South Africa on Tuesday with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Aziz said Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is looking for a settlement to end war talk and lift the economic sanctions imposed after the 1991 Gulf War.
Speaking on Air Force One on Monday, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer dismissed the remarks. "Iraq changes positions (on inspections) more often than Saddam changes bunkers," he said.
Iraq has hinted before that it would allow inspectors to return, under the right conditions. It was not clear whether Aziz's comments represented a genuine change of position; they were made a day after he told CNN that letting the experts back under the direction of chief U.N. arms inspector Hans Blix was not an option.
U.N. inspectors want to check for chemical, biological or nuclear weapons. The United States says Saddam is trying to make them; Iraq says it has destroyed those facilities.
Iraq's latest proposal comes as the Bush administration struggles to put together a coalition that would drive Saddam from office. Many allies in Europe, the Middle East and Asia have said their priority was resumption of inspections. There is little public support outside the USA for Bush's idea that "regime change" is the only way to contain Iraq.
In a new threat to Bush's aspirations, Russia hinted Monday that it could veto a U.N. resolution if the United States proposed one to legitimize an invasion. "Any decision to use force against Iraq would not only complicate an Iraqi settlement but also undermine the situation in the Gulf and the Middle East," Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said. Russia has long-standing business ties with Iraq.
Former South African president Nelson Mandela, attending a summit on poverty and the environment in Johannesburg on Monday, said the Bush administration was "introducing chaos into international affairs." He added: "We are really appalled by any country ... that goes outside the United Nations and attacks independent countries."
Mandela said he had tried unsuccessfully to speak with Bush. He spoke instead to Secretary of State Colin Powell, who is scheduled to attend the summit this week.
Even within the Bush administration there appeared to be differences on Iraq, at least in approach. Powell, in an interview for broadcast next Sunday on the British Broadcasting Corp., said he supported renewed inspections. "Iraq has been in violation ... for most of the last 11 years or so," he said in an excerpt released on BBC television. "So as a first step, let's see what the inspectors find. Send them back in. Why are they being kept out?"
He added, "We should not think that the inspections in and of themselves might give us the kind of assurance that we could take to the bank."
Vice President Cheney, in a speech last week, said inspections are not the prime objective; the goal is removal of Saddam. Fleischer denied there was any White House split over Iraq; he said the president, Cheney and Powell had "spoken the same."
"This is much ado about no difference," he said.
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