Butler to test Iraqi arms compliance
U.S. source tells NBC News surprise inspections would trigger 72-hour attack clock
By Jim Miklaszewski
MSNBC STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
WASHINGTON, Nov. 24 — The chief U.N. weapons inspector is planning a series of surprise inspections that could start as early as next week and are designed to test Iraq's intention to provide “unconditional” cooperation, sources told NBC News on Tuesday. If Iraq attempts to block the inspections, the sources said, the United States will consider launching air strikes, without warning, within 72 hours.
THE United Nations is embroiled in another round of wrangling with Iraq over arms-related documents. Baghdad continues to insist that many of the documents demanded by the U.N. Commission on Iraq, known as UNSCOM, either don't exist or were destroyed during the Gulf War.
That situation, according to sources who spoke on condition of anonymity, led UNSCOM'S Richard Butler to order preparations for surprise inspections against a number of contested sites as early as next week. The sources said that if Iraq denies inspectors access, a 72-hour clock will be triggered that could end with air strikes.
The sources said Butler would decide whether to declare the inspection process dead — a decision that would be followed by the immediate evacuation of U.N. staff.
‘We want to make sure Butler has an airtight case before we launch.'
— UNIDENTIFIED U.S. SOURCE
“We want to make sure Butler has an airtight case before we launch,” a U.S. source said. If there were some sign of positive movement from Iraq within the 72-hour window, “the trigger point could be pushed down the road,” the source said.
Butler told MSNBC on Sunday that he intends to test Iraq's cooperation and that it would be premature to declare the inspection process over. “We need to see the whole picture, including how they treat our inspectors on the ground in the weeks ahead,” he said.
A spokesman for UNSCOM reached Tuesday declined comment on the reported 72-hour time frame.
FEW CONSULTATIONS
The U.S. sources said that if the 72-hour clock is tripped, Washington would consult with Great Britain and perhaps, hours before the assault began, with the United Nations. Major
military assets remain in the Gulf from a build-up earlier this month. Some units turned back for bases in the United States on Nov. 15, after Iraq last agreed to “unconditional cooperation” with the weapons inspectors.
In Baghdad, meanwhile, the standoff that resumed following the inspectors' return last week continued. On Tuesday, the Security Council reviewed three letters Iraq has sent since Friday rejecting Butler's request for documents.
“We're not getting the pattern of cooperation that we want (to) move this whole thing positively forward, which is after all what the whole council wants,” British Ambassador Sir Jeremy Greenstock said. “It's a bit of a minus mark.”
While Iraq's refusal to surrender 10 of the 12 categories of documents requested was criticized, U.S. officials have indicated that the document issue, by itself, would probably not lead to air strikes.
“The U.S. government view is that several different kinds of activities are important,” Peter Burleigh, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told reporters. Those include routine and surprise inspections on the ground and interviews with Iraqi officials, he said.
NBC's David Bloom quoted a senior administration official as saying the United States was not going to go to war over documents, and that President Bill Clinton intends to wait for Butler to report following attempts at surprise inspections.
RELATED DEVELOPMENTS:
Appeal to Arabs: Iraq on Tuesday pleaded with Arab nations to help lift U.N. sanctions and thwart “Anglo-American attempts” to topple President Saddam Hussein. In front-page editorials in government-run newspapers and in an article written by a leading adviser to Saddam, Iraq warned that attempts to dislodge Saddam could destabilize the region.
Encouraging dissidents: Britain held talks with representatives of 16 Iraqi dissident groups on Monday. The meeting followed an Anglo-American decision to work with the exiles to improve the chances of removing Saddam from power. The British government has also said it backed proposals to set up a U.N. court to try Saddam for war crimes. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Martin Indyk met with the opposition groups Tuesday at the U.S. Embassy in London. The United States has recently agreed to spend $97 million on covert actions aimed at replacing Saddam. On Monday, Izzat Ibrahim, vice chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council, escaped an attempt on his life in the southern city of Karbala, holy to Shiite Muslims.
The U.N. “oil-for-food” plan for Iraq was renewed by the Security Council Tuesday for another six months. The 15-0 vote included $300 million for spare parts and other material for Iraq's oil industry. Even though the plan allows Iraq to sell $5 billion worth of oil for essentials, Iraq has only been able to export about $3 billion in oil over the last six months because of low crude prices and the state of its oil industry.
The USS Enterprise and five escort ships have joined the American naval fleet operating in the Gulf. The Enterprise is to relieve the carrier USS Eisenhower, a spokesman for the Bahrain-based U.S. 5th Fleet said Tuesday. Ships accompanying the carrier include a cruiser, two destroyers and a submarine.
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