NGO'S MEET WITH RICHARD BUTLER
February 11, 1998, by Pauline Cantwell
Convenor of Peace Caucus at UN and Peace Action UN Representative

I was part of a group of six NGO's (Felicity Hill, WILPF; Cora Weiss, Peace Action; Roger Smith, NGO Committee on Disarmament; Johnathan Granoff of Lawyers Allied for World Security and Colby Lowe, Peace Action) who met with Richard Butler yesterday morning. Butler, the Special Commissioner and Chief Inspector of UNSCOM, discussed with us ways that we in civil society can help defuse the current crisis between Iraq and the U.S. He urged us to get the following out in the public arena:

As soon as UNSCOM inspectors say they have achieved their goals, the sanctions will be lifted.

He also urged us to demand that President Clinton and his entire administration and spokespersons make this message absolutely clear.

He asked us to talk to the media and demand, absolutely demand, that Clinton and any other responsible administration person state that: "The resolution (SC 687, Paragraph 22) states that the sanctions will be lifted when the inspectors say their inspections are completed. We promise that this will happen." There must be no hedging. No one can move the goalpost.

Amb. Butler said that the inspectors are satisfied there is no longer any nuclear or long-range capability and they are very close to completing the chemical and biological phase of the operation. They need to find a way to inspect sensitive sites while maintaining Iraq's dignity and sovereignty. Everything could be completed in a few months.

The second phase of the operation will be continued monitoring of Iraq's weapons program. This phase is not subject to sanctions.

We made several suggestions for ways to defuse the situation including the following:

• Call for a "time-out" for humanitarian groups, doctors, concerned citizens, etc. to be allowed in to assess the humanitarian crisis there.
• Treat this like any humanitarian disaster with emergency relief for the victims of the sanctions.
• Separate the humanitarian crisis from the inspections issue.
• Shift from blanket sanctions to targeted sanctions which would affect the people in power and give relief to innocent victims, especially the children.
• Bring the timetable forward for inspecting and disarming other nations in the region, ultimately making the Mideast a weapon-free zone.
• Hold arms dealers accountable.
  
  Butler noted that Saddam Hussein decided months ago that he wanted to avoid the last
  disarmament and have sanctions lifted. Iraq says "You want to strip us naked but we live in a region where everyone else is fully clothed." Butler feels as long as Saddam Hussein thinks he can bolt from his obligations and get rid of sanctions this will be a problem. He must agree to the continuation of inspections. Butler says there is a big war machine prepared and war could be two weeks away. He feels that Saddam Hussein will wait till the last minute to blink. If his timing is off it will be disastrous.

ph 212-750-5795, fax 212-750-5849, paintl@igc.apc.org

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