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To: waverider who wrote (27154)	8/5/1998 7:21:00 PM
From: Captain James T. Kirk	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 95453

Wednesday August 5 6:31 PM EDT Iraq Freezes Cooperation With U.N. WAIEL FALEH Associated Press Writer BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Protesting eight years of crippling economic sanctions, Saddam Hussein broke off cooperation with U.N. arms inspectors Wednesday and demanded the commission monitoring the weapons be reorganized. Saddam decided to ''completely suspend cooperation with the U.N. Special Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency,'' after a meeting with senior officials, a government statement said. The move came hours after Iraq's 250-member National Assembly voted unanimously to cut off cooperation, demanding an end to sanctions. Legislators complained in a statement that the inspectors would never give Iraq a clean bill of health on its weaponry. Talks broke down Monday between chief U.N. weapons inspector Richard Butler and Iraq's lead negotiator, Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz. Speaking in New York Wednesday after a meeting with Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Butler appeared to back down from his earlier insistence that access to weapons information was the only way to break the impasse. ''The Secretary-General and I agree there's a syndrome of behavior going on here. ... Maybe we have to be a bit more creative than in the past.'' Butler usually confines himself to the technicalities of weapons and disarmament, and his venture into diplomatic niceties was rare. His softer tone suggested that efforts by Iraq and its friends on the Security Council to wear down the inspectors were working. The chief arms inspector said he would make a presentation to the Security Council on Thursday with findings from his latest trip to Baghdad. Saddam's announcement, read over national television, means that U.N. experts can no longer search suspected arms sites in Iraq, a task the U.N. commission has been carrying out since 1991 in a bid to ensure that Iraq eliminates its weapons of mass destruction. Still, Saddam said cameras and sensors installed in suspected weapons sites can remain in place. At the same time, he demanded a change in the makeup of UNSCOM, the acronym for the commission that oversees the arms monitors, to give greater representation to nations sympathetic to Iraq's cause. Reaction from Britain and the United States appeared muted compared with their threats of military action during previous confrontations. A White House spokesman, P.J. Crowley, scoffed at Saddam's latest refusal to cooperate with the inspectors, calling it ''a game of cat-and-mouse'' and saying any military response would be premature. Yuriy Fedotov, Russia's No. 2 man at the United Nations, said any further deterioration of the situation must be prevented. ''Still, there is hope that a major crisis can be prevented,'' he added. He accused Butler of not properly consulting with the Security Council before breaking off talks. But Butler said Aziz effectively cut off the discussions Monday evening. ''Tariq Aziz demanded of me that I wave a magic wand over their weapons program and say they're finished, shazam, the wand, finished,'' Butler said as he waited for an elevator in the U.N. lobby. ''And I said I can't do that, I need evidence.'' Butler said he asked Aziz if he thought it was worth resuming the talks the next day. ''He said no, unless you're prepared in advance to agree to my point of view,'' he said. ''If anyone broke of these talks, it wasn't me, it was Tariq Aziz. Butler also said his inspectors reported for inspections as usual Wednesday and the Iraqis met them ''in a normal and courteous way.'' The sanctions were imposed in 1990 after Iraq invaded Kuwait, which prompted the Persian Gulf War. They cannot be lifted until the inspectors certify that Iraq has destroyed all its chemical and biological weapons and long-range missiles. The sanctions ban Iraq from freely exporting its most valuable commodity - oil. The U.N. monitoring program has been marked by frequent confrontations and disruptions. Iraq says the sanctions are devastating its economy. My comments: Pardon my english but I hope that this "game of cat and mouse" does not prove that we are the pussies this time around. this country lost credibilty and power in the last game, maybe we can save face this time. Any thoughts or comments from anyone ? Is it me, or are we letting this clown rule for the sake of.......what ? World war III ?