Iraqi Compliance, Not Sweet Talk : Coping with Hussein’s hegemonic ambitions

Late last Saturday, after a dozen hours of pointed argument and negotiation, the U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a resolution condemning Iraq’s movement of troops close to the Kuwait border and demanding not only their withdrawal but also that Iraq never again threaten its neighbors. Less than 48 hours later the consensus that put this resolution on record had fractured.

Russia, which had made no effort to mask its dissatisfaction with the resolution it found expedient to support Saturday night, discovers itself in deepening disagreement with the United States and to a lesser extent Britain over where U.N. policy toward Iraq should go next.

Russia’s view, as expressed by Foreign Minister Andrei V. Kozyrev, is that the United States overreacted to what Baghdad intended to be innocent and routine military maneuvers in southern Iraq. Moreover, Iraq has made every effort to open up certain of its most suspect military facilities to U.N. inspections. Further, it says it is conditionally prepared to recognize Kuwait’s independence, dropping its claim that Kuwait is a separated province of Iraq. Given this moderation, Moscow says, Iraq deserves to be rewarded. Russia wants the economic sanctions against Iraq eased. Specifically, it wants the ban on its oil sales lifted.

The American response, as forcefully expressed by Ambassador Madeleine Albright, is that “words are cheap. Actions are the coin of the realm.”

Saddam Hussein trails a long and sordid record of meaningless promises and bogus assurances that can’t be erased by yet more consoling lies and deceptive sweet talk. What Washington demands is full Iraqi compliance--actions, not words--with relevant U.N. resolutions. For starters, that means unequivocal recognition of Kuwait’s independence and international borders. That, along with other appropriate unconditional actions, must precede any end to the embargo.

Iraq’s rubber-stamp parliament had the chance a few days ago to renounce the claim to Kuwait. It didn’t do so. Its deputy prime minister, Tarik Aziz, had the opportunity to underscore Iraq’s honorable intentions when he spoke to the Security Council on Monday. He did not do so.

Russia has powerful commercial reasons--Baghdad has promised it both debt repayment and lucrative contracts--for seeking a softer approach toward Iraq. But Washington has a more compelling motivation for insisting that Iraq abide by the U.N. resolutions: Neither this country nor its allies want to fight a second Persian Gulf war in response to Saddam Hussein’s hegemonic ambitions. That really is what the debate over lifting the sanctions is about.