[House Document 107-175]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
107th Congress, 2d Session - - - - - - - - - - - House Document 107-175
IRAQ'S COMPLIANCE WITH UNITED NATIONS
SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS
__________
COMMUNICATION
from
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
transmitting
A REPORT ON THE STATUS OF EFFORTS TO OBTAIN IRAQ'S COMPLIANCE WITH THE
RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY THE UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL, PURSUANT TO
50 U.S.C. 1541
January 24, 2002.--Referred to the Committee on International Relations
and ordered to be printed
The White House,
Washington, January 23, 2002.
Hon. J. Dennis Hastert,
Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Speaker: Consistent with the Authorization for Use
of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution (Public Law 102-1)
and as part of my effort to keep the Congress fully informed, I
am providing a report prepared by my Administration on the
status of efforts to obtain Iraq's compliance with the
resolutions adopted by the United Nations Security Council. The
last report, consistent with Public Law 102-1, was transmitted
on October 11, 2001.
Sincerely,
George W. Bush.
Status of U.S. Efforts Regarding Iraq's Compliance With UN Security
Council Resolutions
Overview
As long as Saddam Hussein remains in power, he will
continue to threaten the well-being of the Iraqi people, the
peace of the region, and vital U.S. interests. We are
continuing our Iraq policy review to determine the best means
of advancing our interests. We have already strengthened
international consensus on the need to change the international
community's approach to Iraq by unanimous passage of a Security
Council resolution (UNSCR 1382) providing for the Security
Council to adopt and implement the Goods Review List (GRL) as
the basis of UN controls on Iraq on May 30, 2002. This approach
would maintain UN controls to prevent Iraq from acquiring items
to support Iraq's ballistic missile, conventional military or
nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons programs. We are
continuing consultations with other Security Council members to
ensure adoption and implementation of the GRL during the next
phase of the ``Oil-for-Food'' program. We are enforcing No-Fly
Zones over northern and southern Iraq to carry out vital United
Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions in an effort to
help ensure the safety of citizens of specific ethnic and
religious groups, and Iraq's neighbors. We are considering how
best to achieve our objective of regime change.
We will continue to contain the threats posed by Iraq, but
over the long term, the most effective and lasting way to end
these threats is through a change of government in Baghdad. To
this end, we support the Iraqi opposition as part of our
program to support a transition to democracy in Iraq. As part
of that effort, the Iraqi National Congress (INC) continues to
be funded for a variety of activities by the State Department,
and continues to receive training under the drawdown authority
of the Iraq Liberation Act (ILA).
Iraq still rejects UNSC Resolution 1284, a binding
resolution adopted under Chapter VII of the UN Charter,
including its requirement that Iraq provide the UN Monitoring,
Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) and the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) with immediate,
unconditional and unrestricted access to Iraq and its
facilities, equipment, records, and personnel. Nonetheless, the
UN is implementing those parts of the resolution which do not
require Iraqi cooperation. In its quarterly report to the
Council on December 6, 2001, UNMOVIC updated the UN Security
Council on measures it is taking to prepare for inspections in
Iraq. UNMOVIC Executive Chairman Dr. Hans Blix stated that
UNMOVIC inspectors are prepared and ready to return to Iraq. To
provide UNMOVIC the best support possible, we consult regularly
with Dr. Blix and his staff. In its semi-annual report to the
UN Security Council on October 5, 2001, the IAEA indicated it
is similarly prepared to return to Iraq, but that the longer
the suspension of resolution-related inspections lasts, the
more difficult it will be and the more time will be required
for the Agency to re-establish a level of knowledge comparable
to that achieved at the end of 1998.
Ambassador Yuli Vorontsov, the Secretary General's high-
level coordinator for Kuwait Issues, presented his semi-annual
report on stolen Kuwaiti property on June 20, 2001, and on
August 21, 2001, he submitted this periodic report to the
Council on Kuwaiti and third-country national prisoners. Both
of these reports demonstrate Iraq's continuing failure to
comply fully with its obligations under relevant UNSCRs. The
Iraqi Government continues to deny Ambassador Vorontsov entry
to the country.
The ``Oil-for-Food'' program, which is designed to provide
for the humanitarian needs for the Iraqi people as long as UN
sanctions remain in place, continues to expand. Iraq exported
$17.8 billion worth of oil in 2000 with the proceeds going to a
UN-controlled escrow account. On November 29, the Security
Council extended the current phase of the ``Oil-for-Food''
program for an additional 180 days. During this time, we will
continue to work with Security Council members to agree on the
details of a new resolution implementing our approach.
U.S. and Coalition Force Levels in the Gulf Region
Saddam Hussein's record of aggressive behavior necessitates
the deployment of a highly capable force in the region to deter
Baghad and respond to any threat it might pose to its
neighbors, the reconstitution of its weapons of mass
destruction (WMD), or movement against the Kurds in northern
Iraq. We will continue to maintain a strong posture and have
established a rapid reinforcement capability to supplement our
forces in the Gulf, if needed.
Operation NORTHERN WATCH and Operation SOUTHERN WATCH
Aircraft of the United States and coalition partners
patrolling the No-Fly Zones over Iraq under Operations NORTHERN
WATCH and SOUTHERN WATCH are routinely tracked by Iraqi radar,
fired upon by anti-aircraft artillery, and attacked with
surface-to-air missiles. Our aircrews continue to respond in
self-defense to threats against and attacks on our aircraft
patrolling the No-Fly Zones in accordance with Central
Command's (CENTCOM) well-established response options.
Maritime Intercept Operations
The U.S.-led maritime Multinational Interception Force
(MIF) continues to enforce UN sanctions in the Gulf. The United
States continues to approach potential participants in the MIF
to augment current partners. Canadian, Australian, and British
forces are currently operating with U.S. forces.
In large part, member states of the Gulf Cooperation
Council (GCC) continue to support the MIF. The UAE still
accepts the vast majority of vessels diverted for violating UN
sanctions against Iraq, but Kuwait, at a distant second, is
rapidly building up its numbers. Other GCC nations are more
hesitant to accept diverted vessels (Saudi Arabia, Qatar and
Bahrain have accepted ships in the past, but now refuse), but
all provide support in some form to the enforcement of UNSCRs
against Iraq.
From September through November 2001, monthly totals of
smuggled petroleum products through the Gulf averaged slightly
less than those in the previous three-month period. Iran
continues to deny use of its territorial waters to all but the
largest of smuggling vessels from which significant fees can be
obtained.
The MIF, and our ability to rapidly augment it, serves as a
critical deterrent to the smuggling of prohibited items and
products into and out of Iraq. As our Iraq policy develops, we
will need to assess whether MIF force levels are adequate.
UNMOVIC/IAEA: Weapons of Mass Destruction
There have been no Council-mandated inspections in Iraq
since December 15, 1998. Iraq's defiance of the international
consensus, as expressed by UNSCR 1284, has meant that no
progress has been made in addressing Iraq's outstanding
disarmament obligations. Iraq remains in violation of its
obligations to end its programs to develop weapons of mass
destruction and long-range missiles.
UNMOVIC has largely completed the hiring of its core staff
in New York and is continuing to hire people, including
Americans, in an on-call or ``roster'' category. UNMOVIC has
completed four training courses and plans to hold a fifth
course in early 2002. The United States provides UNMOVIC with
course instructors and facilities for hands-on training. We
consult with Dr. Blix and his staff regularly to provide the
best support possible. On December 6, 2001, UNMOVIC issued its
latest report on steps it is taking to prepare for inspections
in Iraq. Dr. Blix has said that UNMOVIC inspectors are prepared
and ready to return to Iraq.
The United States also provides support to and holds
regular consultations with the IAEA Iraq Action Team. In its
semi-annual report to the UN Security Council on October 5,
2001, the IAEA indicated that it has maintained its readiness
to resume verification and monitoring activities in Iraq, but
that the longer the suspension of resolution-related
inspections lasts, the more difficult it will be and the more
time will be required for the Agency to re-establish a level of
knowledge comparable to that achieved at the end of 1998.
Dual-Use Items
``Oil-for-Food'' program revenues are designated for
humanitarian purposes only, but we remain concerned that Iraq
is abusing this program in an attempt to acquire goods and
materials for its weapons programs. Currently, the United
States, as a member of the UN Iraq Sanctions Committee, reviews
all contracts under the ``Oil-for-Food'' program (unless the
items are on a list pre-approved for expedited humanitarian
export) to ensure that prohibited items are not exported to
Iraq and dual-use items are not diverted to Iraqi weapons
programs. However, on November 29, 2001, the United Nations
Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1382. In this
resolution, the Council agreed to adopt and implement a Good
Review List (GRL) by May 30, 2002, subject to any refinements
agreed to by the Council prior to that date. When implemented,
the GRL will maintain UN controls on items deemed useful in
supporting Iraq's ballistic missile, conventional military, and
nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons programs. At the same
time, this approach will lift economic sanctions on purely
civilian trade with Iraq.
UNSCR 1051 established a joint UNSCOM/IAEA unit to monitor
Iraq's authorized imports of WMD- and missile-related items
(WMD/missile-related goods are also known as ``1051''-listed
goods). UNSCR 1051 also established lists of items subject to
review in all four weapons categories--ballistic missile,
nuclear, chemical and biological. As noted in the last report,
these lists were updated by UNMOVIC and the IAEA. Under UN
Security Council resolution 1284, UNMOVIC has assumed this
responsibility from UNSCOM, with the added requirement to
identify if, in their estimation, a contract contains a 1051-
listed good. UNMOVIC and the IAEA have continued to perform
this duty during this reporting period. Under UNSCR 1382,
UNMOVIC and the IAEA would be charged with screening all ``Oil-
for-Food'' contracts for GRL-listed items. Under this approach,
the GRL includes the 1051 lists and items that Iraq could use
to support its conventional military. Since weapons inspectors
left Iraq in December 1998, the UN Office of the Iraq Programme
is the principal organization allowed to observe goods going
into Iraq under the ``Oil-for-Food'' program. Various UN
agencies have provided end-use verification to varying low
degrees. In the absence of weapons inspectors and other experts
on the ground in Iraq, the United States has placed holds on a
number of prohibited or dual-use contracts that otherwise
likely would have been approved if UNMOVIC/IAEA monitoring were
available.
The UN's ``Oil-for-Food'' Program
We support the international community's efforts to provide
for the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people through the
``Oil-for-Food'' program. Under UN control, the proceeds of
Iraqi oil sales are used to purchase humanitarian goods, fund
UN Compensation Commission awards against Iraq arising out of
its invasion and occupation of Kuwait, and to meet UN
administrative costs. As of November 30, 2001, Iraq had
exported more than $5.2 billion worth of oil during the tenth
six-month phase of the ``Oil-for-Food'' program, which began on
July 4, 2001. According to UN data since the start of the
``Oil-for-Food'' program, 19,795 contracts for humanitarian
goods worth over $29 billion have been approved through October
31, 2001. To streamline the approval process for humanitarian
goods, we have agreed with the UN on a fast-track approval
process for some goods. However, as purchases under the program
have moved from basic humanitarian supplies to more expensive
infrastructure projects, the number and value of U.S. ``holds''
on contracts have increased. The Security Council's commitment
in recently adopted resolution 1382 to implement the Goods
Review List and related procedures on May 30, 2002, will help
eliminate holds (contracts would either be approved or
submitted to the sanctions committee members for approval or
denial), while ensuring that the Iraqi regime has less access
to the goods most important to its re-armament efforts.
The ``Oil-for-Food'' program maintains a separate program
for northern Iraq, administered directly by the UN in
consultation with the local authorities. This program, which
the United States strongly supports, ensures that when Iraq
contracts for the purchase of humanitarian goods, 13 percent of
the funds generated under the ``Oil-for-Food'' program are
spent on items for northern Iraq.
Humanitarian efforts in northern Iraq have led to a marked
contrast between the health of the population of the north,
where indicators show an improvement, and of the population
living in the areas where the UN does not administer the
program.
International humanitarian programs, including most
importantly the ``Oil-for-Food'' program, have steadily
improved the life of the average Iraqi and led to improvements
in health care, water, sanitation, agriculture, education, and
other areas, while denying Saddam Hussein control over most of
Iraq's oil revenues.
However, as noted most recently in a November 19 UN report,
the Government of Iraq is not committed to using the funds
available through the ``Oil-for-Food'' program to improve the
health and welfare of the Iraqi people. Approximately $2.0
billion remains unobligated in the ``Oil-for-Food'' escrow
account, as of November 19, 2001. In addition, Iraqi
contracting delays, cuts in food, medicine, educational and
other humanitarian sector allocations, government attempts to
impede or shut down humanitarian NGO operations in northern
Iraq, and Baghdad's delays in the issuance of visas for UN
personnel demonstrate that the Iraqi regime is trying to
undermine the effectiveness of the program.
We will continue to work with the UN Secretariat, other
members of the Security Council, and others in the
international community to ensure that the implementation of
UNSCR 1284, and other relevant UNSCRs, better enables the
humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people to be met while denying
political or military benefits to the Baghdad regime.
Flight Control Regime
UNSC resolutions are open to competing interpretations
regarding international flights to Baghdad. The UNSC has so far
unsuccessfully attempted to reach a consensus agreement on new
procedures for international flights. In the absence of an
agreement, we continue to press for adherence to existing
Sanctions Committee procedures, which allow for Committee
approval of flights with a demonstrable humanitarian purpose.
The majority of international flights to Iraq in the past year
have operated in compliance with UNSC procedures.
Northern Iraq: Kurdish Reconciliation
The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic
Union of Kurdistan (PUK) continue their efforts to implement
the September 17, 1998, reconciliation agreement. They work
together effectively in a number of areas, including joint
efforts to bring the needs of their region to the attention of
the UN and the international community, and within the larger
Iraqi national democratic opposition movement. The situation in
northern Iraq is not settled, however, and we continue to look
for ways to encourage the parties to make greater progress
toward resolving their differences.
The Human Rights Situation in Iraq
The human rights situation in Iraq continues to fall
severely short of international norms. UNSCR 688 expressly
notes that the consequences of the regime's repression of its
own people constitute a threat to international peace and
security in the region. It demands immediate access for
international humanitarian aid organizations to all Iraqis in
need in all parts of Iraq. Yet, for more than 9 years the Iraqi
Government has refused to allow the UN Human Rights
Commission's Special Rapporteur for Iraq to visit the country.
UN human rights monitors have never been allowed in. On
December 19, 2001, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution
that strongly condemned ``the systematic, widespread and
extremely grave violations of human rights and of international
humanitarian law by the Government of Iraq, resulting in an
all-pervasive repression and oppression sustained by broad-
based discrimination and widespread terror.''
Human rights NGOs and other interested voices continue to
call for creation of an international tribunal to address the
war crimes and crimes against humanity of the Iraqi leadership.
United States Government policy supports this view: the
leadership of the Iraqi regime should be indicted and
prosecuted by an international criminal tribunal or by a
national court that can properly exercise jurisdiction over
them.
The Iraqi leadership's abuse of resources for personal
enrichment and attempts to manipulate the ``Oil-for-Food''
program continued unabated. The government fails to use
revenues earned via the ``Oil-for-Food'' or from illicit trade
for the greatest benefit to the people of Iraq.
In the north, outside the Kurdish-controlled areas, we
continue to receive reports of the regime continuing its ethnic
cleansing policy of forcibly expelling ethnic Kurds and
Turkomans for Kirkuk and other cities, and transferring Arabs
into their places. Saddam's security apparatus continues to
repress Shias.
The Iraqi Opposition
We continue to support the Iraqi opposition, helping Iraqis
inside and outside Iraq to become a more effective voice for
the aspirations of the people, and working to build support for
the forces of change inside the country. They are working
toward the day when Iraq has government worthy of its people--a
government prepared to live in peace with its people and its
neighbors.
Since October, we have been making short-term extensions to
our cooperative agreement with the Iraqi National Congress
(INC), as we negotiate a new agreement with them. The funding
in the current grant has allowed the INC to continue operations
at its headquarters and satellite offices, begin satellite
television broadcasting into Iraq, continue production and
distribution of its newspaper, undertake outreach programs to
further develop its organization, deploy teams to advocate the
interests of the Iraqi people at international fora, plan for
the delivery of humanitarian relief to Iraqis in need, collect
information on the Iraqi regime, and manage assistance provided
under the Iraq Liberation Act (ILA). The grant extension for
January 2002 does not include funding for the INC's collection
of information on the Iraqi regime (due to ongoing financial
management and internal control weaknesses that must be
resolved before funding for the program can resume) and the
INC's DC and London offices that exist to facilitate training
drawndown under the ILA (because the INC has refused since
November to sign up new trainees for courses). We plan to reach
a new agreementwith the INC shortly, to provide them with
further funding to continue such activities.
The United Nations Compensation Commission
The United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) was
established and operates pursuant to UNSCRs 687 (1991) and 692
(1991). It continues to process claims and pay compensation for
losses and damages suffered by individuals, corporations,
governments and international organizations, as a direct result
of Iraq's unlawful invasion and occupation of Kuwait. To date,
the UNCC has issued approximately 2.6 million awards worth
about $35.79 billion, and has already paid $13.7 billion of
those awards. Of the former amount, the United States
Government has been awarded approximately $665.3 million from
the UNCC for payment to U.S. claimants. Awards and the costs of
the UNCC's operation are paid from the Compensation Fund, which
is funded through the allocation to it of a certain percentage
of the proceeds from authorized oil sales under Security
Council resolution 986 (1995) and subsequent extensions. The
allotment has generally been set at 30 percent. However, for
the six-month phase of the ``Oil-for-Food'' program beginning
December 6, 2000, there was a reduction in that allotment to 25
percent. This reduction has been extended with each subsequent
rollover, including the latest one starting on November 29,
2001, as embodied in UNSCR 1382. The reduction is designed to
make funds available for specific programs intended to meet
pressing humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people.
Conclusion
Iraq remains a serious threat to international peace and
security. The Iraqi regime's record on human rights continues
to be abysmal. The United States remains determined to see Iraq
comply fully with all of its obligations under UNSC resolutions
while at the same time endeavoring to see that the humanitarian
needs of the Iraqi population are addressed. The United States
will continue to encourage and support those Iraqis working for
the day when Iraq rejoins the family of nations as a
responsible and law-abiding member under a new government that
serves its people, rather than represses them.