Iraq Allows UN Inspectors back to Avert US War: Analysis

Home>>World

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, September 19, 2002

Iraq Allows UN Inspectors back to Avert US War: Analysis

DISCUSSION

CHINESE

SEND TO FRIEND

In a surprising U-turn on the arms inspection issue, Iraq has promised to give UN weapons inspectors free access to suspicious sites in the country, a move that is generally viewed as a wise way to avert US military attacks.

In an official letter addressed to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri on Monday said his government is ready to accept the UN weapon inspector unconditionally.

Iraq's latest offer came at a time when the United States is rallying international support for its campaign to achieve a "regime change" in Iraq and most of the world is piling up pressure on Iraq's compliance of UN Security Council resolutions to allow the resumption of arms inspections.

Facing widespread opposition around the world to a US plan to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein with force, US President George W. Bush delivered a strongly-worded speech to the UN General Assembly last Thursday to build up a case against Baghdad in an attempt to fend off criticism over his administration's unilateral approach.

"The Security Council resolutions will be enforced -- the just demands of peace and security will be met -- or action will be unavoidable," Bush said, adding that "a regime that has lost its legitimacy will also lose its power."

Bush's warning has been widely interpreted as an indication that the United States would most likely take military actions preemptively against Iraq even without a new UN Security Council resolution that grants the mandate if Iraq fails to meet its demand.

Nevertheless, Bush's willingness to let the United Nations Security Council to take the helm on the Iraq issue, at least for now, has met a chorus of welcome around the world as many countries have seen the possibility of a political solution to the current crisis.

Most importantly, the other four permanent members of the Security Council -- China, Russia, France and Britain - as well as Arab countries, have also voiced their demand that Iraq should comply with relevant UN resolutions.

Foreign ministers from the five veto-wielding nations of the Security Council agreed last Friday that Iraq's noncompliance of relevant UN resolutions is "a serious problem" and urged Iraq to implement them immediately.

The Arab League foreign ministers, relieved at Bush's promise to solve the Iraq issue through the UN mechanism, have jointly said to their Iraqi counterpart on the sidelines of the ongoing UN General Assembly session that it was time to allow the UN arms inspectors back, otherwise a devastating war would be unavoidable.

As the world were increasingly putting pressure on Iraq, the United States was taking advantage of the momentum to persuade the Security Council to pass a new resolution that may include a ultimatum with a mandate for military actions as well as other tough requirements.

Some key Arab countries that previously opposed any war on Iraq, including Saudi Arabia and Egypt, have recently shifted their position by saying they would support UN-mandated actions.

Some observers considered these moves as the "last straw" that forced Iraq to give the green light to the return of UN arms inspectors.

Facing an almost unified global demand for an immediate compliance of Security Council resolutions, Iraq practically had no room for further diplomatic maneuvers but to back down from its long-time insistence of barring UN inspectors from entering its soil.

Iraq has been under sweeping UN sanctions since its August 1990 invasion of neighboring Kuwait and the embargo will not be lifted until the United Nations verifies that Iraq has eliminated all of its weapons of mass destruction and means of launching them.

Continuous spats about alleged espionage activities between Iraq and the UN arms inspectors, who were commissioned to verify if Iraq has eliminated its weapons of mass destruction, led to crisis in 1997 and 1998, and eventually the brief air war against Baghdad on Dec. 17-19, 1998.

Since then Iraq has remained defiant, arguing that its weapons of mass destruction -- nuclear, chemical and biological -- have already been dismantled and the return of the arms inspectors to Iraq is unnecessary.

Now for the first time in nearly four years, Iraq has eventually allowed the inspectors back under unprecedented US and international pressure, hoping that the move would win back the international sympathy and support to avert a US war.

Although Iraq's new offer has been welcomed by many countries around the world, the United States and its closest ally Britain have voiced skepticism about Iraq's true intentions and continued to seek a new Security Council resolution, casting a cloud on the global relief at Iraq's "positive gesture".

Moreover, the dispute between Iraq and UN arms inspectors has not been resolved and the weapons inspecting mission could as well fall into crisis, which may become an excuse for the United States to act.

Questions?Comments? Click here

US Dismisses Iraqi Move to Accept Inspector as "Tactical Step"

Iraq Allows Return of Inspectors Without Condition

China Embraces Iraqi Decision on UN Inspectors: FM Spokesman

>> Full Coverage

China Since 1990: Facts and Figures Tell of Rising Prosperity ( 19 Messages)

Dozens Could Have Died in Food Poisoning in Nanjing ( 13 Messages)

China Hopes to See Iraqi Issue Resolved Within UN Framework ( 29 Messages)

Survey Discloses Bad Service of Domestic Banks ( 64 Messages)

Scholar Slates Chen Shui-bian Pro-"independence" Speeches ( 10 Messages)