UN agreement blocks Iraq war

By Tim Wheeler

This article was reprinted from the February 28, 1998 issue of the People's Weekly World. For subscription information see below. All rights reserved - may be used with PWW credits.

A world-wide chorus, "Don't Bomb Iraq," forced the Clinton administration to back down and allow U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to negotiate an agreement in Baghdad Feb. 22. It averted air strikes that would have killed thousands of innocent Iraqis.

"This is a victory for the United Nations and definitely a victory for the peace movement," said Gordon Clark, executive director of Peace Action.

The San Francisco Central Labor Council Monday approved a resolution urging a negotiated settlement, said Walter Johnson, secretary-treasurer of the San Francisco AFL-CIO. He endorsed the U.N. agreement.

"They're on the right track. Bombing would have caused a lot of pain," Johnson said. "I'm very glad for this agreement. We strongly opposed the last Persian Gulf War. We hope President Clinton doesn't get over-anxious because once you kill a lot of people, you can't bring them back."

Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.) said, "The Secretary General has demonstrated that diplomacy can work when given a chance ... I only hope the administration is listening."

The Iraqis, she added, "must see that there is an end in sight to the sanctions which have devastated their country." She also called for "consistent standards ... applied throughout the region" to dismantle weapons of mass destruction.

The depth of opposition to the threatened bombing surfaced during a Town Hall meeting at Ohio State University in Columbus, Feb. 18. Initiated by the White House and broadcast live by CNN, Secretary Of State Madeleine K. Albright, Defense Secretary William Cohen and National Security Adviser Samuel Berger faced sharp, often hostile, questions from the 6,000 people in the audience. In Minneapolis, a day or so later, Bill Richardson, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., was heckled off a stage by protesters shouting "liar."

The San Diego Union Tribune asked readers to call in their views. A total of 5,094 called in, two-to-one against the bombing. The outpouring was a warning to Clinton that if he had ordered air strikes, "there would have been a firestorm of national and international protest," Clark said. "A majority of Americans do not want the U.S. to serve as a global cop."

Clark told the World that Peace Action and other groups have launched a drive for full implementation of U.N. Resolution 687 which, he said, goes far beyond requiring only Iraq to dismantle its weapons of mass destruction. "U.N. Resolution 687 calls for turning the Middle East into a zone free of weapons of mass destruction," Clark said.

"The U.S., right now, should be calling for a disarmament conference in the Middle East. But it is difficult when the U.S. ignores Israel's nuclear weapons stockpile," he said. "All countries have to get rid of their weapons of mass destruction. Its ridiculous that some selected group of countries is going to hold a monopoly on these weapons."

Sam Husseini, media director of the American Arab Anti- Discrimination Committee, told the World, "This U.N. agreement must bring a sigh of relief to the Iraqi people. The rest of the world is saying the sanctions should be lifted immediately or as soon as the inspections are completed. The U.S. is alone in saying they should remain." He assailed the U.S. for claiming the right to unilaterally bomb Iraq if it finds the U.N-brokered agreement unacceptable. Husseini said it would be an "illegal" act in defiance of the U.N. and world opinion and international law.

Joe Volk, executive secretary of the Friends Committee on National Legislation, hailed the U.N. agreement. "This agreement proves that smart diplomacy works better than smart bombs," he said. "It was the result of intense diplomatic initiatives. Our appeal is for Congress and the President to join in support of this new U.N. brokered agreement to assure a peaceful outcome and to assure continued U.N. inspections."

Volk said the Friends group supports the drive for full implementation of U.N. Resolution 687 to make the Middle East a zone free of weapons of genocide.