The US attacks Iraq
Iraq, Politics, 12/16/1998

A military strike against Iraq has begun by the US and Britain.

US White House Spokesman Joe Lockhart said at 5pm US Eastern time today that the US President approved an attack on Iraq this morning, and that the attack has begun.

The US President Bill Clinton addressing the nation about this issue said "on the unanimous recommendations of my security team, I have ordered a strike against Saddam" and it will be focused on military targets for the purpose of containing him, weakening his capabilities to reconstituting his nuclear , chemical and biological weapons that can be developed in "two month" if Iraq is given the chance.

The President said that this action is intended to contain his threats to his own people, the region and the international community. He added that the US will remain ready to act militarily again, as "this situation presents a clear and present danger to our interests."

The president said the attack had to be taken at this time in advance of the coming holy Muslim month of Ramadan beginning this weekend, as that would offend many of them and threaten US relations with them and the Arab states. The president said " I gave Saddam a chance not a license" referring to the last crisis that is the same as this one caused by US accusations of lack of cooperation of Iraq with UN efforts to disarm it.

Brittish Prime Minister Tony Blair said "operation desert fox" began at 10 PM local time, and that "Brittish involvement will be significant" in this strike.

Blair said that 'we must face the facts that Saddam Hussein has no intention of abiding by UN resolutions.' He added that this attack is not against the people of Iraq but against the regime. Blair said 'We take this action with real regret but also with real determination.'

The US has expressed great frustration in dealing with Iraq over what they said was a lack of Iraqi cooperation with the United Nations teams that are in charge of disarming (UNSCOM) Iraq according to resolutions that are the result of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and its subsequent defeat.

Iraq has despite these US charges said that it is cooperating fully, and that these incidents of confrontations between the UN and Iraq are due to Richard Butler, the head of those inspection teams, who they claim is following US policy that is opposed to seeing the sanctions lifted off Iraq.

After having stated that the US would never approve of seeing the sanctions off Iraq, the US in its last crisis with Iraq indicated that it is willing to offer a comprehensive review of the sanctions if Iraq cooperated with UNSCOM. It is not clear whether this latest confrontation between Iraq and UNSCOM was due to Richard Butler constantly pushing the limit of Iraqi patience in order to keep the sanctions or if it is due to perceived weakeness of the US President due to possible impeachement related activities.

The US has warned during the last crisis that it would not seek UN Security Council approval for any military action it would take the next time it sees lack of Iraqi cooperation, and the US president today said that his decision is based on the clear and present danger to the US national interest.
US National Security Adviser Sandy Berger outlined today the threat as "UNSCOM has in effect been (made) ineffective" by the Iraqi lack of cooperation. He added that the basis of US policy towards Iraq is 1. To maintain economic sanctions that deprive the Iraqi government from funds 2. Keep UNSCOM effective to deter reconstrution of Iraqi military programs that would reconstitute their power. 3. Credible use of force in case of lack of compliance 4. Hold support from the region and key allies.
Berger said that with the ineffectiveness of UNSCOM and with lack of credible use of force would have destroyed two elements of the basis of US policy in containing Iraq, thus rendering it ineffective.

Iraqi ambassador at the UN today, after it became evident the seriousness of the situation and after meeting with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, issued statements that hinted at lack of support only saying that "we exchanged views." He added that "It looks like the United States is determined to go for a military strike."

Now with the strike commencing against Iraq, it is not clear what the nature of the attack will be, but US Defense Secretary William Cohen said that the attack is focused on "military targets" and that the operation will be "over in the sense of the military operation itself" once the targets have been hit adding that the US will remain ready in the area to take action again and defend Iraq's neighbors if they are attacked. Both Cohen and the President hinted that this action will not last beyond the beginning of the Muslim sacred month of Ramadan that starts this weekend.

The US has indicated recently that it is taking active action to support the toppling of the Iraqi government. But there is consensus even within US official circles that any action is likely to be ineffective short of an invasion of Iraq or some other major action that would target the leadership itself, leading to a new government that may not be any different then the current one, leaving many Arab and Western governments opposing the Iraqi government with few choices in their approach to what is seen by them as a dilemma. US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright today said that the US consulted with its allies and "I found a broad understanding of our actions."

It is clear that the US president has similar assessments of the effect of the strikes as he indicated that the strike will be limited, and that the US is ready to act again, leaving a big puzzle as to where and what all these events will lead to, or if they will be a mere repetition of the previous crisis, leading to the same status quo at their conclusion.

Previous Stories:
  Iraq once again under specter of military threat   (12/16/1998)
  Annan: US policy toward Iraq goes beyond UN policy   (12/16/1998)
  US: Iraq has blocked at least three inspections   (12/15/1998)
  UNSCOM resumes surprise inspections in Iraq   (12/14/1998)
  Baghdad prevents inspections at Baath party headquarters   (12/11/1998)
  Iraqi opposition leader against foreign intervention to change Iraqi government   (12/9/1998)
  Iraq still expects a US strike at any moment   (12/8/1998)
  Baghdad wants stronger Arab position   (12/1/1998)
  Talibani: Time of armed struggle gone with the wind   (12/1/1998)
  Iraq accuses the US of trying to kneel down its people   (11/25/1998)
  New collective funeral for Iraqi children   (11/25/1998)
  Iraqi opposition conference convened in London   (11/24/1998)
  No stability in UN-Iraq relations without progress toward embargo lifting   (11/20/1998)
  Britain hopes to make a change in the Iraqi government   (11/17/1998)
  UN Security Council: We have a solution to the war of frustration   (11/15/1998)
  Clinton: Iraq has backed down   (11/15/1998)

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