Iraq: Compliance, Sanctions, and U.S. Policy
Kenneth Katzman
Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division
Congressional Research Service - The Library of Congress
April 2, 2002
SUMMARY
In recent years, the United States has
been unable to maintain an international consensus
for strict enforcement of all applicable
U.N. Security Council resolutions on Iraq, but
it has largely succeeded in preventing Iraq
from reemerging as an immediate strategic
threat to the region. There is U.S. concern
about the long-term threat posed by Iraq and,
in the wake of the September 11 attacks, the
Bush Administration has said it will prevent
Iraq from re-emerging as a significant threat to
U.S. security. The exact form of that
Administration stance has not yet been
announced, whether it be through international
sanctions and diplomacy, military action, or
covert action.
During 1991-1998, a U.N. Special Commission
on Iraq (UNSCOM) made considerable
progress in dismantling and monitoring
Iraq’s mass destruction weapons (WMD)
programs but was unable to finish verifying
Iraq’s claim that it has destroyed all its weapons
of mass destruction or related equipment.
Iraq’s refusal of full cooperation with
UNSCOM eventually prompted U.S.-British
military action in December 1998. All inspectors
withdrew and Iraq has been unmonitored
since, leaving uncertainty as to whether Iraq
has rebuilt its WMD programs.
On November 10, 1994, as required, Iraq
accepted the U.N.-designated land border with
Kuwait (confirmed by Resolution 833) as well
as Kuwaiti sovereignty. Iraq claims that, after
the 1991 war, it lost track of the more than
600 Kuwaitis still missing, and it denies possessing
any more Kuwaiti property taken
during the war. Neither of these claims is
considered credible by the international community.
Iraq rejected a 1991 U.N.-sponsored
“oil-for-food” program to address humanitarian
needs, but it later accepted a revised version
of that plan, which has been operational
since December 1996.
Iraq’s compliance in other areas, especially
human rights issues, is still widely
deemed unsatisfactory. A U.S.-led no-fly zone
has provided some protection to Kurdish
northern Iraq since April 1991. Since August
1992, a no-fly zone has been enforced over
southern Iraq, where historically repressed
Iraqi Shiites are concentrated. The zone was
expanded in August 1996, but Iraq nonetheless
maintains a substantial ground presence in the
south. Iraq has openly challenged both no-fly
zones since December 1998.
In late 1998, the Clinton Administration
publicly added a major new dimension to U.S.
Iraq policy — openly promoting a change of
regime. Accomplishing this additional U.S.
objective is considered risky and difficult, and
is not openly supported by many other governments.
The Bush Administration appears to be
building largely on the Clinton Administration’s
Iraq policy framework, but the Administration
says that rebuilding support for containment
requires easing purely civilian sanctions.
The opening of a diplomatic dialogue
with Baghdad (the United States suspended
relations with Iraq in January 1991) has not
been under consideration, although Iraq has
sought talks with the United States.
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