Iraq: The Weapons Inspection Conundrum; Strategic Insights: v.1, issue 2 (April 2002)
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Authors
Boureston, Jack
Russell, James A.
Subjects
Advisors
Date of Issue
2002-04
Date
April 2002
Publisher
Monterey, CA; Naval Postgraduate School
Language
Abstract
The U.S.-Iraq arms inspection/WMD standoff represents a defining characteristic of the post-Gulf War environment in the region, not to mention the interaction within the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) during this period. Simply put, Iraq's commitments to the international community under United Nations Security Council Resolution 687 and follow-on resolutions remain unfulfilled. These resolutions require that Iraq destroy all its WMD programs (weapons, production equipment and research programs) and submit to a U.N.-administered long-term WMD monitoring system. The United States and the Britain are effectively the only permanent members of the Security Council that continue to insist that Iraq live up to these obligations. While the Clinton Administration did not shy away from using force against Iraq to back up the U.N. Special Commission, or UNSCOM, it decided for a variety of reasons against an invasion to enforce the will of the international community as expressed in the Security Council's resolutions. In the context of more current events, traditional allies such as Britain and Canada have registered their support for the U.S. stance and possible military action, while Iraq's friends in the Security Council, Russia, France, and China, are simply calling on Iraq to let inspectors back in. Russia, France, nor China appears to support an invasion of Iraq.
Type
Article
Description
This article appeared in Strategic Insights (April 2002), v.1 no.2
Series/Report No
Department
National Security Affairs (NSA)
Organization
Center on Contemporary Conflict (CCC)
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
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NPS Report Number
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Format
Citation
Strategic Insights, v.1, issue 2 (April 2002)
Distribution Statement
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.