Bush seeks more control over sanctions
Financial Times, April 27
By Edward Alden in Washington
The Bush administration is seeking to curb the use of unilateral US sanctions and expand the scope of presidential discretion over when and how sanctions should be imposed, a senior US official said this week.
Those issues will lead the agenda in an internal review of sanctions policy announced by Colin Powell, secretary of state. The review, to be launched shortly, has been delayed because the Bush team is still trying to fill many of the key administration posts.
Mr Powell has already initiated a review of US sanctions on Iraq, arguing that the decade-long United Nations-led embargo has failed to weaken the regime of Saddam Hussein.
The administration must also decide whether to support renewal of the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA), which allows for US sanctions against foreign companies doing business in those two countries. The law, which has angered many European countries, expires in August and US oil companies are pressing for the lifting of sanctions.
But the official said the administration wants broader reform of sanctions policy, not simply specific decisions on particular sanctions regimes.
The administration will consider supporting legislation introduced previously by Senator Richard Lugar, which would sharply curb the use of unilateral sanctions. While that proposal has drawn strong support from US business and farmers that are harmed by economic sanctions, many Republicans favour more robust use of sanctions.
Presidential discretion would be a key theme of the review. Previous administrations have also urged expanded presidential flexibility, but congress has resisted such demands. However, the official said congressional opinion has shifted since 1998, when the Clinton administration was forced by law to impose sanctions on India and Pakistan following their nuclear bomb tests. He said while subsequent sanctions legislation has included greater presidential flexibility, "it would be useful and appropriate to establish this more firmly as a principle, rather than having to fight it out" each time sanctions legislation comes up. |
