09/17/2002
EDITORIAL NUMBER=0-10134

IRAQ DEFIES THE UNITED NATIONS

In a major speech to the United Nations General Assembly, President George W. Bush said that Iraq, under Saddam Hussein, is an outlaw regime that poses "exactly the kind of aggressive threat the United Nations was born to confront."

Twelve years ago, the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait without provocation. This aggression was reversed by a U.S.-led coalition of thirty-seven nations and the will of the United Nations. To suspend hostilities, Iraq’s dictator accepted a series of commitments. The terms of these U-N Security Council resolutions were clear. But as President George W. Bush said, Saddam Hussein "has proven...only his contempt for the United Nations."

Saddam Hussein agreed to unconditionally accept the destruction, removal, and rendering harmless, under international supervision, of his weapons of mass destruction programs. He was required to destroy all of his ballistic missiles with a range greater than one-hundred-fifty kilometers. For seven years, Saddam’s regime obstructed the work of inspectors, and in 1998 he kicked them out. For four years, while refusing to accept the return of inspectors, Baghdad has continued to pursue chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons.

Saddam Hussein was required to stop support for terrorism and to prevent terrorist organizations from operating within Iraq. Iraq, said President Bush, "continues to shelter and support terrorist organizations that direct violence against Iran, Israel, and Western governments. Iraqi dissidents abroad are targeted for murder. In 1993, Iraq attempted to assassinate the Emir of Kuwait and a former American president. Iraq’s government openly praised the attacks [on the U.S.] of September 11^th. And al-Qaida terrorists escaped from Afghanistan and are known to be in Iraq."

Saddam Hussein was required to help account for missing Kuwaitis and others and to return stolen Kuwaiti property and bear financial liability for damage from the Gulf War. He was required to end his repression of the Iraqi people. Saddam Hussein has repeatedly violated each of these U-N-mandated obligations.

As President Bush said, "The conduct of the Iraqi regime is a threat to the authority of the United Nations, and a threat to peace. Iraq has answered a decade of U-N demands with a decade of defiance.... We have been more than patient.... If Iraq’s regime defies us again," said President Bush, "the world must move deliberately, decisively to hold Iraq to account."

Anncr: That was an editorial reflecting the views of the United States Government. If you have a comment, please write to Editorials, V-O-A, Washington, D-C, 20237, U-S-A. You may also comment at www-dot-ibb-dot-gov-slash-editorials, or fax us at (202) 619-1043.