4. "The Pentagon also points out, the Bush administration also points out very, very strongly, that the Iraqi regime itself is to blame for all of these problems. If they simply complied with U.N. Security Council resolutions and disarm, there would be no sanctions, there would be no problem getting medical supplies, doctor, pediatricians, to all parts of Iraq." - Wolf Blitzer, CNN(11/7/02)
It's not at all clear that sanctions against Iraq would automatically be lifted if the country disarmed; President George Bush the elder declared in 1991, shortly after the sanctions were imposed, "My view is we don't want to lift these sanctions as long as Saddam Hussein is in power." His Secretary of State James Baker concurred: "We are not interested in seeing a relaxation of sanctions as long as Saddam Hussein is in power."
President Clinton made a point of saying that his policy toward Iraq was exactly the same as his predecessor's. His secretary of state Madeleine Albright stated in her first major foreign policy address in 1997: "We do not agree with the nations who argue that if Iraq complies with its obligations concerning weapons of mass destruction, sanctions should be lifted. Our view, which is unshakable, is that Iraq must prove its peaceful intentions.... And the evidence is overwhelming that Saddam Hussein's intentions will never be peaceful." (See Institute for Public Accuracy, 11/13/98); http://www.accuracy.org/iraq.htm
It's not at all clear that sanctions against Iraq would automatically be lifted if the country disarmed; President George Bush the elder declared in 1991, shortly after the sanctions were imposed, "My view is we don't want to lift these sanctions as long as Saddam Hussein is in power." His Secretary of State James Baker concurred: "We are not interested in seeing a relaxation of sanctions as long as Saddam Hussein is in power."
President Clinton made a point of saying that his policy toward Iraq was exactly the same as his predecessor's. His secretary of state Madeleine Albright stated in her first major foreign policy address in 1997: "We do not agree with the nations who argue that if Iraq complies with its obligations concerning weapons of mass destruction, sanctions should be lifted. Our view, which is unshakable, is that Iraq must prove its peaceful intentions.... And the evidence is overwhelming that Saddam Hussein's intentions will never be peaceful." (See Institute for Public Accuracy, 11/13/98); http://www.accuracy.org/iraq.htm