Ha'rretz Daily - Israel - 09/17/98
'U.S. may bomb Iraq if Baghdad blocks UN inspections'
By Shlomo Shamir, Ha'aretz Correspondent
NEW YORK - The U.S. government is contemplating an air strike against Iraq if Baghdad makes good on its threat to abandon completely its cooperation with UN weapons inspectors, senior sources at United Nations headquarters in New York said.
UNSCOM, the United Nations Special Commission, was set up by the UN Security Council after the 1991 Gulf War to monitor and inspect Iraq's weapons stores and programs.
According to the sources, senior officials at the Pentagon and top brass of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff have recently been "airing out" contingency plans including lists of preferred target sites in Iraq. Such targets would be subjected to retaliatory missile attacks if Iraq actually goes ahead and expels the international weapons
inspectors and switches off the electronic monitoring devices that operate at Iraqi arms facilities.
A senior Western diplomat who is in close touch with the U.S. delegation to the United Nations told Ha'aretz yesterday that the emerging tendency in the Pentagon is to strike at targets that are "close to the heart of Saddam Hussein."
The point of such an operation would be to humiliate the Iraqi president and at the same time spur opposition activity by groups inside Iraq that are known to oppose Saddam's regime.
The Iraqi National Assembly on Tuesday approved a recommendation to break off cooperation with UNSCOM, and Iraqi leaders yesterday endorsed the approval, said a statement in Baghdad issued after a meeting chaired by Saddam Hussein.
Resolutions of the National Council are generally considered to reflect the views of Saddam Hussein and the prevailing frame of mind within his inner circle.
According to the senior diplomat, Pentagon planners are weighing priority sites for attack that will tarnish Saddam's prestige. Among these sites are some of the eight magnificent presidential palaces that the Iraqi leader built to glorify his name.
"The aim is to focus on targets that, if seriously damaged, will put Saddam Hussein under pressure," the diplomat said.
The prevailing view at the United Nations that an American military strike against Iraq is highly likely is consistent with reports yesterday about intense discussion at the White House on the subject. The consultations there were said to involve President Bill Clinton, Defense Secretary William Cohen, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, the head of the National Security Council, Sandy Berger, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Henry Shelton.
Clinton also discussed the crisis in a phone conversation on Tuesday with Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien. The consultations at the White House dealt with possible means of response in the event that Iraq decides to realize its threat to suspend all cooperation with UNSCOM.
A spokesman for the National Security Council said yesterday that he had "no details on the contents of the consultations." He added that Clinton had been briefed on the status of the crisis with Iraq.
"This is a situation that we are following very closely," he noted.
Sources in the U.S. administration refused yesterday to comment on what type of operations were discussed. However, Albright said in a speech a week ago that "all the options" are open where Iraq is concerned, including the possible use of military force.
American diplomats are trying to persuade the Security Council to hold a special session as soon as possible to work out steps to take against Iraq if it ceases to cooperate with UNSCOM. At the same time, reports circulating yesterday said that UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is planning to resume his involvement in the protracted dispute between Iraq and the Security Council.
Ths U.S. administration is said to be encouraged by the unity demonstrated by the Security Council, which last week voted unanimously to suspend the periodic review by UNSCOM, which in practical terms means that the sanctions imposed against Iraq in 1990 will continue indefinitely. |
