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Bush Seeks End to U.N. Sanctions on Iraq
Randall Mikkelsen
Apr. 16, 2003 19:08 EDT

ST. LOUIS - President Bush on Wednesday urged the United Nations to lift economic sanctions on Iraq, a move which would clear the way for the country to sell oil to help pay for post-war reconstruction.

``Now that Iraq is liberated the United Nations should lift economic sanctions on that country,'' Bush told about 1,000 workers in an often politically flavored speech at a Boeing jet fighter plant.

At the United Nations, diplomats said that an end to sanctions should depend on the world body certifying that Iraq is free of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, one of the reasons Washington gave for the war.

The United States intends to propose a resolution to lift the sanctions ``in the near future,'' White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.

The U.S. ambassador at the United Nations John Negroponte told reporters Washington was still working on the specifics of how sanctions would be lifted, but added: ``I think we envision some sort of step-by-step procedure.''

A vote by the U.N. Security Council, where war opponents France and Russia hold veto power, is required to lift the sanctions. U.S. officials have said they do not expect these countries to pose any obstacles.

At the U.N. Security Council diplomats said discussions among its 15 member-nations including the United States could begin next Tuesday with a briefing from chief weapons inspector Hans Blix.

SANCTIONS LINKED TO WEAPONS

The diplomats hinted that the key to lifting sanctions might depend on a U.S. willingness to readmit U.N. arms inspectors. Under existing council resolutions, before the sanctions can be lifted, U.N. inspectors must certify that Iraq is free of all weapons of mass destruction.

The United States has so far resisted opening the door to a return of the inspectors who were pulled out shortly before the war started. But other council members say letting the United States pursue the inspection process would lack credibility in the international community.

The sanctions, imposed after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait, currently prohibit countries from buying Iraqi oil or selling goods to Iraq other than through an U.N.-administered oil-for-food program.

Bush's speech, in a politically important state that is home to Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Richard Gephardt, touted successes of the four-week-old war on Iraq in a way that foreshadowed likely themes of his 2004 reelection campaign. Bush narrowly won Missouri in 2000.

Bush associated the Iraq war with the war against terrorism. ``Since September the 11th we've been engaged in a global war against terror ... that war continues and we are winning,'' he said to applause from the Boeing factory workers.

It was his first civilian audience on a trip outside Washington since the war began 27 days ago but the war theme was evident in the F/A-18 fighter jet that flanked Bush at the plant.

Bush's early reelection campaigning and fund-raising have been delayed by the war. But now, in addition to touting successes in Iraq, Bush has stepped up promotion of his economic agenda.

BUSH'S TAX CUT

He urged Congress to quickly pass his proposed tax cut, saying the country needed the economic stimulus. On Monday Bush scaled back his goal for the cut, originally $726 billion, to $550 billion, due to congressional opposition to bigger cuts.

``In order for all Americans who are looking for work to find work, the Congress must pass this jobs' package as soon as they come back from their recess,'' Bush said.

Bush's father, former President George Bush, lost a reelection bid after being criticized as indifferent to economic woes after the 1991 Gulf War, teaching an oft-cited lesson to his son.

Gephardt responded to Bush's appearance with a statement saying, ``All that President Bush has to offer those workers and other Americans struggling in this bad economy is more unaffordable, unsustainable and patently unfair tax cuts.''

Before leaving for St. Louis, Bush signed a $79 billion package to pay for the war in Iraq. He stopped in St. Louis on his way to spend the Easter holiday at his ranch in Crawford, Texas.

U.N. battle brewing over Iraq sanctions

Associated Press

Army Spc. Shoshana Johnson arrives Wednesday in Germany, where she and sic other ex-POWs will be treated at Landstuhl Medical Center.

Bush urges nations to lift them

Maggie Farley and Edwin Chen Los Angeles Times Apr. 17, 2003 12:00 AM

UNITED NATIONS - President Bush urged the Security Council on Wednesday to lift sanctions on Iraq that have been in place for a dozen years, implicitly challenging its members not to allow their objections to the war to hinder the Persian Gulf nation's speedy recovery.

"Now that Iraq is liberated, the United Nations should lift economic sanctions on that country," Bush told workers at a Boeing plant in St. Louis that made fighter jets used against Iraq.

But France, Russia and some other council members are arguing to keep the sanctions in place and let the U.N. retain control of Iraq's oil resources and lucrative contracts to rebuild the nation. They fear that a U.S.-installed government will cut them out of existing and future deals. French President Jacques Chirac told Bush by telephone on Tuesday, their first conversation in nearly two months, that France wants the United Nations to have a more central role in rebuilding Iraq's infrastructure and government than Washington would like.

Last week, Secretary of State Colin Powell dismissed calls by France, Russia and Germany for a central U.N. role in Iraq, noting that the U.S.-British-led coalition had overthrown Saddam and the idea that "the Security Council is now going to become responsible for everything is incorrect."

Issue portends discord

Addressing Iraq's humanitarian needs might seem like a straightforward way for the Security Council to reunite after months of discord. But how the group deals with the sanctions has profound portents for the future of both Iraq and the United Nations. If not handled carefully, the issue could potentially deepen divisions.

In the coming weeks, the council's 15 members must resolve several weighty questions: How should the coalition share the burden and the spoils of shaping a new Iraq? Who should control the country and its resources until a new Iraqi government is in place? Does the United Nations need to certify that Iraq is truly disarmed, or that it even had banned weapons in the first place, before sanctions can be lifted?

'No shortcuts'

"To us, all these questions are linked," a French diplomat said. "It is in the interest of the Iraqi people, the (U.S.-led war) coalition and the international community to do this right. There are no shortcuts."

The United States has special teams seeking caches of banned weapons and is recruiting former and current U.N. inspectors to work under American supervision at an estimated 3,000 sites. But Washington, saying it is disappointed by the results of U.N.-run inspections before the war, has resisted inviting the world body's inspectors back into the country to monitor the teams' efforts. Council members say the presence of U.N. teams would help U.S. credibility and have asked U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix to meet with the council Tuesday.

Inspections necessary?

But Wednesday, U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte questioned whether inspections were still required. "We have to recognize that the situation in the region has changed radically, and I don't know if (the inspections process) is necessary or not," he said.

The Security Council's actions also may foreshadow the future of U.S. dealings with the world body. If the council blocks American intentions, it will make Washington much more wary of engaging the United Nations on crucial security decisions, U.S. officials say.

"Working out these issues could take months. In the meantime, you have oil sitting in port and people to feed," said a U.S. official who requested anonymity. "The rebuilding can't wait for the political bickering to end."

The United Nations imposed economic sanctions beginning in 1990 after Iraq invaded Kuwait. It also pressured the regime to surrender weapons of mass destruction. In 1996, the world body eased the restrictions to allow countries to buy oil and sell non-military goods to Iraq, but all contracts had to be approved by a U.N. committee, and all revenues were held in escrow to try to keep the money out of Saddam Hussein's hands. Though Saddam's regime is now gone, the elaborate web of sanctions still exists, tripping up U.S. plans to fund reconstruction with Iraqi oil revenues.

Oil tanks full

Iraq's oil fields escaped major damage or sabotage during the war, and until the past several days the country continued to pump oil from its northern fields through a pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. The tanks there are now full, with 9.3 million barrels waiting to be shipped, said Ian Steele, spokesman for the United Nations' oil-for-food program. But buyers need a confirmation certificate from the Iraqi government to allow loading, and no one is sure who has that authority. Under international conventions, occupying powers are not allowed to make long-term contracts or alter a government.

"The oil is available," Steele said, "but until the legal and political issues are resolved, no one can take it."

In St. Louis, Bush did not spell out when or how to go about lifting the sanctions. But White House deputy press secretary Scott McClellan said the United States will seek a resolution to lift them "in the near future."

Flip-flops at U.N.

At the United Nations, diplomats speak wryly about the sudden flip-flop of interests. For years, France and Russia have pushed to ease economic restrictions on Iraq, both to open up investment opportunities for their companies and to improve the lot of the Iraqi people. The United States and Britain argued to keep the pressure on.

Now, it's the other way around.

"The U.S. used to say to the Russians and the French, 'We'll lift sanctions over my dead body,' " an ambassador at the world body said. "Now the Russians and the French are saying that to the U.S."

By the book

Although technically the Security Council can override the cumbersome requirements of any previous resolution, the majority of members want to lift the sanctions by the book. That means U.N. inspectors must certify that Iraq is free of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons before the council can officially rescind the sanctions.

"The sanctions were imposed to assure that Iraq does not possess weapons of mass destruction," said Mexican Ambassador Adolfo Aguilar Zinser, the group's president. "There is a great deal of interest in the council to finalize this issue."