Clinton Aides Meet On Iraq Options
By John Mintz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, November 8, 1998; Page A38
President Clinton is set to huddle with his top national security team at Camp David today to discuss options -- including possible military strikes -- for ending Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's defiance of United Nations weapons inspections.
Defense Secretary William S. Cohen is scheduled to attend the meeting following consultations in recent days with U.S. allies in Europe and the Persian Gulf, and national security adviser Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger concluded talks yesterday with British and French leaders in Paris.
"They have been discussing with our allies Iraq's intransigence and the best way to respond to it," said David C. Leavy, the National Security Council's spokesman. "All options are on the table and will be reviewed by the president."
Besides Cohen and Berger, others expected to brief Clinton at his wooded Maryland retreat are Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright, CIA Director George J. Tenet and White House Chief of Staff John D. Podesta.
"We're avoiding talking about a timetable" for any possible American action, Leavy said. "This will not be a decision meeting. It's designed to review the situation on the ground."
Administration sources have said privately that Clinton may well decide, and soon, to launch more Tomahawk cruise missile attacks on Iraq, as the United States has several times in recent years because of Saddam Hussein's belligerence or failure to honor his promises to allow U.N. weapons inspections.
Saddam Hussein sparked the latest crisis by announcing he would no longer let U.N. officials inspect sites where they suspect weapons of mass destruction are being researched, manufactured or stored.
On Thursday the 15-nation U.N. Security Council formally condemned Iraq for halting the inspections and warned that economic sanctions against the nation will not be lifted unless it reverses the action "immediately and unconditionally." The panel's unanimous resolution did not authorize military action, but Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair have hinted they will launch strikes to punish Iraq.
Iraqi officials have remained firm, insisting the United Nations must review the sanctions put in place after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan averted American airstrikes in February by persuading Saddam Hussein to promise complete cooperation with U.N. inspectors, but the Iraqi leader has violated that promise, U.S. officials said.
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