By George Gedda Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Rejecting criticism that the United States is going soft on Iraq, U.S. officials
say the Pentagon has doubled the number of cruise missiles in the Persian Gulf region since
undertaking a major military buildup in late 1997.
The officials commented Thursday in response to criticism from Scott Ritter, a member of the U.N.
inspection team who quit after seven years to protest both U.S. and U.N. policies toward Iraq.
The officials said the number of cruise missiles could be doubled again on short notice if needed.
They also stressed that military options against Iraq has not been ruled out.
The officials would not specify the number of cruise missiles deployed in the gulf region. Navy ships
in the Arabian and Red seas fired between 75 and 80 cruise missiles at targets in Sudan and
Afghanistan last week in retaliation for the Aug. 7 terrorist bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and
Tanzania.
Ritter complained that while present policies are designed to permit U.N. sanctions against Iraq to
remain intact, they will not ensure the destruction of armaments that the U.N. Security Council
barred following the Persian Gulf War.
The U.S. officials, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity, said American policies are designed
to ensure fulfillment of both goals.
The Clinton administration has been confronted with a spate of news reports lately suggesting its
resolve against Iraq has been weakening. According to some accounts, the administration has been
instrumental in squelching surprise inspections against Iraq planned by U.N. Special Commission
monitors. The State Department maintains it does not tell UNSCOM what to do.
Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., chairman of a Senate Middle East subcommittee, said he was
troubled by the reported scuttling of UNSCOM inspection proposals.
''We've got to get to the bottom of this,'' Brownback said. ''Scott Ritter's charges are credible,
specific and substantial. We must investigate whether the administration's rhetoric matches its
actions.''
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, opting not to lash out at Ritter for deserting the cause, instead
praised him for his ''great work'' over the years.
''We believe it is absolutely essential for Saddam Hussein to come clean in terms of the weapons
of mass destruction and to follow through on all the Security Council obligations that he has,'' she
said. ''The United States has been the country in the lead, keeping Saddam Hussein in his box.''
She said it was not for nothing that she has earned from him ''the sobriquet of 'snake' and 'witch.' ''
The officials said the accounts suggesting a downgrading of inspections are misleading. They noted
that just a few weeks ago, UNSCOM inspections turned up evidence of Iraqi possession of the
highly lethal nerve gas VX.
They also suggested that the administration has been guided in its policies by the need to avoid
irreparable splits in the Security Council over Iraq. To the extent that the United States has pulled its
punches on Iraq from time to time, they indicated, it was because of the need to bring other council
members along.
They added that Saddam Hussein has been most defiant in his attitude toward UNSCOM during
periods when the Security Council has been most divided. Diplomacy has helped to tame Saddam's
ambitions since 1991, the officials said, expressing confidence that it will do so again. One early
goal of U.S. diplomacy, they said, will be to induce Iraq to reverse its early August decision not to
cooperate with UNSCOM.
They also noted that the administration is leading a campaign in the Security Council to suspend
sanctions reviews, now conducted at 60-day intervals. Suspending the reviews would erode further
Saddam's hopes for a lifting of sanctions, they said. |
