Effect of Iraq Embargo a Year Off, Panel Told

Sen. Sam Nunn today questioned whether it is really in the vital interest of the United States to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi invaders, while a former CIA director said it may take a year for sanctions against Iraq to be effective.

As his Armed Services Committee opened hearings on the Persian Gulf crisis, Nunn (D-Ga.) said President Bush’s decision to send 200,000 more troops to the gulf signals a fundamental shift in policy that raises a number of serious questions.

“Is it in our vital interest to liberate Kuwait? How long can we sustain more than 400,000 troops? Has President Bush limited his options by creating a use-it-or-lose-it situation?” Nunn, the committee chairman, asked at the start of hearings prompted by Bush’s decision earlier this month to send more troops to the region and build an “offensive military option” with a force that will total about 430,000 by January.

Ex-CIA Director James R. Schlesinger, meanwhile, told the panel the government has concluded it will take about a year for international sanctions against Iraq to take full effect.

Schlesinger said that was “an official estimate” that panel members would hear more about later, perhaps in a closed-door intelligence briefing later today.

“A year, to me, seems to be in the right ballpark,” Schlesinger said in response to questions. That will be time enough “to drain off the cash that is now sustaining the smuggling operations that bring in food,” he added.

“The (Iraqi) economy will be in severe difficulty in 10 months to a year’s time,” he said. But it may take somewhat longer for those difficulties to lead President Saddam Hussein to change his mind and withdraw from Kuwait, he said.

Schlesinger, who also is a former defense secretary, said he believed the economic sanctions could have their desired effect.

Several committee members said they believed Bush should give the embargo time to work before deciding to use military force to bring about an Iraqi withdrawal.

Nunn indicated his support for a possible U.N. resolution authorizing military force against Iraq unless Hussein’s troops leave Kuwait. The Security Council is expected to act on the measure this week.

However, he said, “this is not a substitute for fully informing the American people.”