Clinton Vows Military Action if Iraq Reneges on U.N. Deal

President Clinton cautiously accepted the U.N.-brokered deal with Iraq on Monday but gave notice that the U.S. military in the Persian Gulf will remain indefinitely and warned of “serious consequences” if Iraqi President Saddam Hussein fails to live up to the agreement.

“What really matters is Iraq’s compliance, not its stated commitments--not what Iraq says, but what it does,” Clinton said in an Oval Office address.

His comments signaled that an immediate airstrike against Iraq had been averted--but he left the door open, saying, “If [Iraq] does not keep its word this time, everyone would understand that then the United States and hopefully all of our allies would have the unilateral right to respond at a time, place and manner of our own choosing.”

Clinton sketched only broad outlines of the accord Hussein struck with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Its details are to be discussed at a U.N. Security Council meeting today.

But the president said the agreement included “immediate, unrestricted, unconditional” access for U.N. inspectors to all suspected weapons sites in Iraq, among them eight “presidential sites” from which they have been barred in recent months. Senior diplomats will accompany the inspectors. There will be no deadline for the inspectors’ work, and their visits will be unlimited.

The administration made clear that it wants compliance. “I hope today’s agreement will prove to be the step forward we have been looking for, but the proof is in the testing,” Clinton said.

A senior White House official added: “We’ll find out what Saddam’s full intentions are when the inspections go forward. This will take some time. Over the next months, Saddam will have to develop a pattern of demonstrating his compliance.”

Clinton also suggested that diplomacy could not have worked without the U.S. buildup of military force in the region, calling it “essential” in getting Hussein to capitulate. His advisors said that, in Clinton’s talks Monday with foreign leaders, they supported his position that this is Hussein’s last chance.

“If they [the Iraqis] walk away from the deal, that will put everybody in the same place,” the official added. “There’s certainly not going to be a lot of criticism of the use of force if, in the face of this agreement, Saddam refused to comply.”

The administration already has deep concerns about details of the deal. Most center on how compromise provisions will affect the program to eliminate Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, according to U.S. and U.N. officials, including:

* The makeup of inspection teams.

This aspect is now “puzzling” and “vague,” a U.S. official said, noting that Annan’s accord calls for the secretary-general, not the chief weapons inspector, to have the primary role in selecting diplomats to escort inspectors to presidential sites. The team leader will be one of 21 members, virtually all nonspecialists, from a special commission that until recently had met every six months as an oversight body. The U.S. fears the increased involvement of the secretary-general and the addition of diplomats could politicize the mission and weaken the role of arms specialists.

* Procedures.

A senior administration official said the new accord is “unclear” about the inspection process and “could possibly open up new problems.” U.S. officials worry that the agreement does not bind the Iraqis to a Security Council resolution spelling out inspectors’ rights and privileges and that it could possibly curb their powers as they work. The accord also fails to specify if the Iraqis will get their requested notice before inspections. U.S. officials wonder how accompanying diplomats will be kept from tipping off the Iraqis about surprise scrutiny. They have questions as to whether the plan for diplomats at the presidential sites will mean they must go on other inspections as well.

* Statements.

Washington will seek clarification of comments Monday by Iraq and Annan. The administration is concerned, for example, about references to Iraq and the inspectors as “equal parties.” This might be seen as giving them equal status or importance--when Iraq is a major violator of U.N. resolutions and the inspectors are enforcing U.N. resolutions. The administration, fearing that Iraq may be pressing for a deadline to end inspections, wants to know more about what Annan meant when he said, “I think it is important that we do our work in a reasonable period.” U.S. officials expressed concern about his reference to improving inspectors’ behavior, which he characterized as “rough” and “brutal”--based on Iraqi perceptions and without noting that Baghdad has blocked and harassed U.N. staffers.

Underlying each of these areas is the administration’s concern that Iraq be blocked from getting any new means to appeal, protest or prevent arms inspections and that Baghdad’s allies on the Security Council be kept from finding ways to politicize the disarmament mission or hasten the lifting of sanctions.

To prevent future challenges, the administration will push for a new U.N. resolution or presidential statement from the Security Council to ensure international consensus on the “right of military response” should Iraq balk, a senior U.S. official said. The administration wants such U.N. guarantees before it formally accepts Annan’s accord to prevent Iraqi maneuvers to test the resolve of the international coalition against Baghdad.

The U.N., since the end of the 1991 Persian Gulf War, has struggled to get Hussein’s government to comply with the disarmament regime. Showdowns provoked by Iraq’s obstructions and delays over the last seven years have led to expensive military buildups. There have been a major airstrike and smaller punitive assaults, none of which has dissuaded the Iraqi testing--what U.S. officials call Iraq’s “cheat and retreat” behavior, which policymakers want to halt. “There have got to be very significant penalties that are immediate, automatic and pre-approved, built into any resolution,” House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) said Monday in Smyrna, Ga.

While the White House credited its military buildup and blunt warnings for what it termed Baghdad’s back-down, congressional leaders expressed relief Monday and criticized the administration, calling for tougher, broader action against Hussein’s regime.

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) called for Hussein to be hauled before an international war crimes tribunal, telling the Cable News Network, “One way or another we’re going to have to topple” the Iraqi leader to stop his making and using weapons of mass destruction.

Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) warned that there are still “a lot of unanswered questions” about the U.S. strategy for Iraq. “This is a dicey and unresolved issue,” he said at a press briefing.

Others expressed concern about Hussein’s credibility, especially since his government also signed the previous cease-fire accord that set up the weapons inspections.

“It is possible that he sees the handwriting on the wall and has agreed to comply in the short term,” said Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.). Still, Kerry said, U.S. troops should remain in the region and policymakers should focus on a long-term strategy for dealing with Iraq.

In other developments:

* About 550 Marines and sailors, including at least 210 from Camp Pendleton, the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station and the Tustin air base, left for the Persian Gulf on Monday. In addition to the three local bases, the troops left from the Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in San Diego, the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms and the Yuma Marine Corps Air Station in Arizona. The Marines and sailors will provide administrative and logistics support.

* Russian officials heralded the Annan accord. If Iraq adheres to it, chief Foreign Ministry spokesman Gennady Tarasov predicted, this accord could lead to the lifting of international sanctions that have crippled Iraq’s economy. Clinton and Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin agreed in a telephone chat that a repeat of this situation would not be tolerated, Yeltsin spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembsky said. Yeltsin told Clinton that the Annan accord will help “avoid serious international crises on a regional as well as on a global scale in the future.”

* In Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted cautiously. “Our knowledge is that Saddam still has dozens of missiles and chemical and biological warheads,” he said. The Israeli government decided to continue its 24-hour distribution of gas masks but said it would hold off for a few days on a plan to hand out antibiotics to counter biological weapons. Meantime, in the Gaza Strip, an enthusiastic Yasser Arafat, president of the Palestinian Authority, predicted that the deal will allow attention to return to the deadlocked Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Times staff writers Richard C. Paddock in Moscow, Marjorie Miller in Jerusalem, Marc Lacey in Washington and David Haldane in Costa Mesa contributed to this report.

* MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: Experts say U.S. aims will be well served by inspections. A8