[543] in peace2
280: Fwd: Brit. Government confirms it will 'refine' Iraq sanctions
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Marc F Rios)
Wed Feb 21 17:37:08 2001
Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2001 17:36:46 -0500 (EST)
From: Marc F Rios <mrios@MIT.EDU>
To: <peace-list@mit.edu>
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---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2001 15:27:19 -0600 (CST)
From: Demian Kogan <dakogan@students.uiuc.edu>
To: mrios@MIT.EDU
Subject: 280: Fwd: Brit. Government confirms it will 'refine' Iraq
sanctions (fwd)
...yeah
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2001 10:31:19 -0600
From: Joseph T. Miller <jtmiller@uiuc.edu>
To: International Relations: ;
Subject: 280: Fwd: Brit. Government confirms it will 'refine' Iraq sanctions
INDEPENDENT (London) 21 February 2001
By Paul Waugh, Deputy Political Editor
Brit. Government confirms it will 'refine' Iraq sanctions
The government will refine its sanctions against Saddam Hussein to take
more account of the suffering of the Iraqi people, it confirmed yesterday.
Senior Downing Street officials said there was no question of easing
pressure on the Iraqi dictator, but Britain had agreed with the US to look
at how "smart sanctions" could be applied to strictly military targets.
While the oil embargo would be tightened, particularly through countries
such as Jordan and Syria, medical and food equipment are unlikely to be
held up unreasonably, according to the plans.
The switch in policy, which was revealed by The Independent yesterday, was
also confirmed by Brian Wilson, a Foreign Office minister.
One of Tony Blair's most senior foreign policy aides said Robin Cook, the
Foreign Secretary, and Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, had agreed
to "look again" at the effectiveness of the sanctions, which have been in
place since Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990.
"The object of Iraq policy will remain the same, containing Saddam Hussein
and his weapons of mass destruction and internal repression," he said.
"How you best achieve those objectives is a matter which we keep
constantly under review. This mix between sanctions, oil revenues,
military posture and enforcement around borders, these are all elements
... which will be looked at again."
Mr Wilson, who revealed the policy review in a written parliamentary
answer hours before the US and Britain bombed Iraq on Friday, said he had
a "positive desire" to see whether the sanctions could be refined to
lessen the suffering of Iraqi citizens. But he warned any modifications
would still have to meet the prime goal of stopping President Saddam
developing weapons of mass destruction.
Mr Wilson was adamant that ministers were not kept in the dark about the
raids on Baghdad, launched just 24 hours after he appeared to signal a
willingness to move towards "smart sanctions". He insisted the two
policies were compatible and denied suggestions by one Labour backbencher
that Britain had "shot diplomacy in the foot".
"There is no contradiction," he told BBC Radio 4's The World at One. "It's
not something new that there is a long and thoughtful look going on at the
sanctions against Iraq. There are two strands to British policy. The first
is to minimise the human impact and the second is to maximise the
inability of Saddam Hussein to wage war on his own people, the region and
the rest of the world."
Alan Simpson, a Labour backbencher, said he was "saddened" that the
bombing raids came so soon after Mr Wilson seemed to open the door to an
easing of sanctions. The only plausible explanation, he said, was that the
Foreign Office had not been told of the raids.
Policy on Iraq will be discussed by British and American officials
tomorrow when Mr Blair meets President George Bush in the US.
======================
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