Iraq’s ‘Lawyer’ Argues a Dubious, Dangerous Case

Russia, acting the part of Saddam Hussein’s lawyer more overtly than ever, wants U.N. arms inspectors in Iraq to speed up their work and wants the Security Council to declare that Iraq has already gone far toward complying with the mandate that it give up all of its terror weapons. That would open the way for easing the sanctions on Iraq that have been in place since its invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and allow Russia to resume doing business with Baghdad and maybe even collect some of the billions of dollars it is owed for earlier arms purchases.

But the U.N. teams can hardly accelerate their inspections while Iraqi officials continue to bar them from sites where banned weapons and crucial documents are believed to be hidden. The record of impedance is long and detailed and leaves no room for doubt that Iraq has consistently worked to evade the U.N. weapons mandate. This record of obstructionism is again prompting U.S. officials to imply that force is very much an option if diplomacy fails to win full Iraqi cooperation.

Iraq has barred U.N. inspectors from 78 sites it claims are presidential “palaces” that, for security reasons, can’t be entered. But President Clinton said this week that many of these facilities are really huge compounds that house internal security agencies, military headquarters and other vital props of the regime. The U.N. disarmament commission believes many of these sites also hide terror weapons or the means to produce them. U.N. inspectors seeking entry to 63 sites report they have been denied access 83% of the time. Photo reconnaissance shows that in some cases material was being hustled out the back even as inspectors were seeking entry at the front gates.

With Russia arguing its case, Iraq will go on trying to outwit the U.N. inspectors, its goal being to hold on to enough of its forbidden weapons so that it can remain a regional if not a global menace. Defense Secretary William Cohen noted again Tuesday that in the past Iraq imported enough material to produce up to 200 tons of the deadly chemical agent VX, “theoretically enough to kill every man, woman and child” on Earth. Finding and eliminating all such chemical and biological warfare stocks must be an international priority and not just something the United States and Britain worry about. Russia talks about introducing more “balance” into the Iraq equation. But balance can hardly be a serious concern when the real issue is survival.