France and Lifting Iraqi Sanctions

[Timber Loftis]

T.L. has little in the way of OpEd on this one, save one comment about Ari's statement that:

"We have a coalition that is working on the ground to dismantle Iraq's WMD weapons and we think that is effective," Mr. Fleischer said. "We have high confidence in the people who are there now to do the job."

Maybe if we use coloring book examples and small words, we can explain to this idiot that it isn't *our* or *his* or *Bush's* confidence that is central to the concern, but rather that of the rest of the free world. Will the world at all buy it if a coalition-only team "finds" MoMD?? Be real. Personally, I don't trust my gov't these days any farther than I can throw it. Only if the UK backs a charge of WoMD will I believe it. I love my country, but this administration cannot be trusted to tell the truth. Forget Bush. Cheney, Rumsfeld, Ari, Wolfowitz -- who's to trust?? Anyway, read on, from today's NY Times:
__________________________________________________ __
U.N. Works to Find Compromise on Lifting Iraq Sanctions
By FELICITY BARRINGER

UNITED NATIONS, April 22 — Facing strong United States opposition to any quick return of United Nations weapons inspectors, the United Nations Security Council today groped for a compromise that would immediately remove the United Nations sanctions against Iraq though perhaps on a provisional basis before international inspections resume.

The issue of tying United Nations inspection to the removal of sanctions has the potential to provoke a renewed diplomatic standoff between the United States and the United Nations. But at least one leading opponent of the United States-led war in Iraq adopted an unusually conciliatory approach today.

In an unexpected move, the French ambassador emerged from the Council to call for immediate suspension of "civilian" sanctions against Iraq. The ambassador, Jean Marc de la Sabliére, added, "there should be some work to find practical and pragmatic arrangement" to coordinate the work of the United States-led inspections currently underway and the work of United Nations inspectors.

As the French ambassador was making his proposal at the United Nations, Ari Fleischer, the White House press spokesman, was making it clear to reporters in Washington that any international inspections were superfluous, at least for the time being. "We have a coalition that is working on the ground to dismantle Iraq's WMD weapons and we think that is effective," Mr. Fleischer said. "We have high confidence in the people who are there now to do the job."

Mr. Fleischer made it clear, in several exchanges with reporters, that the White House remains decidedly cool toward Hans Blix, a chief United Nations weapons inspector, and views any United Nations role as secondary.

Asked if the White House saw any role at all for weapons-inspections teams, Mr. Fleischer said, "Well, the president is looking forward, not backward," a phrase he returned to again and again.

Mr. Fleischer said the United States would work with "the United Nations and our friends and allies" on the issue of a post-Saddam Hussein Iraq. "But make no mistake about it," he said. "The United States and the coalition have taken on the responsibility for dismantling Iraq's WMD."

Referring to Mr. Blix's remarks in a British television interview that the United States' assertions regarding Iraqi weapons have been based on shaky evidence, Mr. Fleischer replied: "Oh, there's no question we remain confident that the WMD will be found. One of the things that we all knew, and Hans Blix knew it, is what masters of deception the Iraqis are and how many years they had to perfect their deceptions."

Mr. Fleischer went on to say, "I think it's unfortunate if Hans Blix would in any way criticize the United States at this juncture. The United States is working with Iraqis to build a new country for them. And I think that would just be unfortunate if his position today is to criticize the United States."

Inside the Security Council this morning, Mr. Blix, a chief weapons inspector, briefed the Council on the readiness of his team to return to Iraq. Meeting with reporters after the closed session of the Council, Dr. Blix said he expected that the United Nations would try to find a way to work with the United States inspectors.

"My overall impression is the Council is sort of groping for some way of which the process of inquiries can be converged with the process we were pursuing," he said.

He added that in speaking to the Council, "I underlined the need to make use of and respect the independence of U.N. inspectors." There was no hostility between his inspectors and those currently at work in Iraq, he said. He added, "We are all interested in finding the truth."

In response to a question about when his group might return to Iraq, he said, "I do not exclude that there will be cooperation . I have no idea about the timing."

The Russian envoy, Sergei Lavrov, did not rule out a compromise that envisioned a quick suspension of sanctions before international inspectors return to Iraq. But he stressed that, "Professionally no other entities in the world I believe to handle all four" aspects of disarmament nuclear, biological, chemical and the missiles. "So it's a question of when security issues would allow"the weapons inspectors to return.

In a conciliatory aside, he noted, "Many members stressed adjusting existing mandates to the situation on the ground."

The Security Council was set to hold two separate consultations on Iraq today. Benon Sevan, the director of the Oil For Food program which has overseen the operation of much of the Iraqi economy for the past seven years, was to brief the afternoon session.

Mr. Sevan made it clear in an interview on Monday that he feels an immediate end to the program would critically disrupt the delivery of the food baskets that have been the dietary staple for at least 60 percent of the population.

Mr. Sevan made the point even more emphatically after the interview, writing in an e-mail: "Until last month, we were delivering some 460,000 metric tons of food rations nationwide every month. That's $212 million worth of food delivered to 27 million residents in a country the size of California — some $1.3 billion worth of food every six months. We need to reactivate that network of warehouses and some 44,000 private storeholders who act as food distribution agents."

Under the program, which began in 1996, the Iraqi did the contracting, offering billions of dollars worth of business to companies from countries it wanted to trade with. In the seven years since the program began, one Security Council diplomat said yesterday, Russian companies did twice as much business as any other country's firms — $7.3 billion worth in both oil purchases and the sale of other goods since 1996.

Other leading trading partners were Egypt ($4.3 billion), France ($3.7 billion) and Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and China, all of which did more than $3 billion in business through the program.

[pritchke]

Originally posted by Timber Loftis: Maybe if we use coloring book examples and small words, we can explain to this idiot that it isn't *our* or *his* or *Bush's* confidence that is central to the concern, but rather that of the rest of the free world. Will the world at all buy it if a coalition-only team "finds" MoMD?? Be real. Personally, I don't trust my gov't these days any farther than I can throw it. Only if the UK backs a charge of WoMD will I believe it. I love my country, but this administration cannot be trusted to tell the truth. Forget Bush. Cheney, Rumsfeld, Ari, Wolfowitz -- who's to trust?? Anyway, read on, from today's NY Times:

I agree having someone from the UN (another country) even has an observer role only, would only add credibility to any WoMD found. Without this observation role many people will say and think "planted". The guys statements alone made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. It made it almost seem like he is planning to plant WoMD.

Has far as Blitz being critical to the US, sometimes criticism is meant to be taken constructively.

[ 04-22-2003, 05:36 PM: Message edited by: pritchke ]