08 March 2002

UN Talks Produce No Iraqi Promise of Compliance

State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher said that there is no indication, even after meetings at the UN, that Iraq is prepared to comply with United Nations Security Council Resolutions.

Speaking at the regular State Department press briefing March 8, Boucher said the Iraqis "failed to indicate that they would comply."

In response to a question about weapons inspections, Boucher said that there is a value in the inspectors, but that "there's no particular guarantee that they can find everything if the Iraqis are still trying to pursue covert weapons programs."

Following is an excerpt from the March 8 State Department briefing:

Kofi Annan met with -- I think it was the Iraqi Foreign Minister -- yesterday. The talks were described as productive, and there's talk of more meetings next month. I just want your evaluation of what happened yesterday.

Mr. Boucher: Well, what happened yesterday is once again the Iraqis refused to step up to the plate and indicate that they would comply fully with the UN Security Council resolutions. We have not seen any indication at this point, even after this meeting, that Iraq is prepared to comply with Security Council resolutions. As in the past, the Iraqi representatives raised a number of issues aimed at preventing and delaying focus on their core obligations, which include cooperating fully and unconditionally with weapons inspectors.

So simply put, what happened was the Iraqis came, but they failed to indicate that they would comply.

Question: Do you think inspections are a good idea? Do you think that would solve the problem?

Mr. Boucher: We have always felt that inspections were a good idea. But there is no guarantee that they would solve the problem. We have seen repeated over the years Iraqi attempts to hide things from inspectors, and we have repeatedly seen the inspectors either make it more difficult for the Iraqis to pursue programs or actually to expose some of the things they were trying to hide.

So there is certainly a value in the inspectors, but there is no particular guarantee that they can find everything if the Iraqis are still trying to pursue covert weapons programs.