EMBER 16, 1998‘__
Clinton strike pullback draws criticism
WASHINGTON (AP) - In a familiar outcome,
President Clinton stepped back Saturday from the brink of
war with Iraq after Saddam Hussein played a cheat-and
retreat game and promised again to play by the rules.
But the betting is that Saddam will turn defiant within
months and interfere with U.N. weapons inspectors - as
he’s done about a dozen times since die Persian Gulf War.
“Candidly, I think it will be a gigantic surprise if he does
comply, but I hope he does,” said Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa.
Once again, the question is what happens next time.
Clinton said the best long-term solution is a new Iraqi gov
ernment, and he pledged to intensify support for Saddam’s
opponents.
After coming so close to attack, the swift White House
retreat raised doubts about Clinton’s threats and whether
Arab nations would stick out their necks again to stand
with the United States against an unpredictable Iraq.
“Our Gulf allies must be just shaking their heads at the
Clinton administration,” said Eliot Cohen, a professor of
strategic studies at Johns Hopkins University who direct
ea a Pentagon study of the Gulf an- war. If you re Saudi
Arabia or Qatar or Bahrain, you think the Americans
flinched. You wouldn’t say Saddam flinched. He’s had
another confrontation with the United States where he gets
to go back to the status quo ante without having paid for it.
‘Tfhis will not be the last go-round,” Cohen said. “It’s
in Sqddam’s nature to keep pressing. It’s in our nature, the
nature of this administration, to threaten but not be sure
they mean it.”
David Kay, the first chief of the U.N. arms inspection
team in Baghdad, said Saddam got out of this jam without
making any new promises. “This is what Iraq has been
obligated to do from the very beginning and has failed to
do.
“Saddam played his usual game,” Kay said. “He
played it right to the last second. He spun out of the bull’s
eye and lives to fight another day. Saddam again proves
— he’s smarter than the Americans.” >•.
! The Iraqi leader triggered the showdown in August^
limiting inspectors’ access to suspected weapons sites. On
Oct. 31, Iraq broke off cooperation. ^
Saddam ended the crisis simply by promising to allow
the inspectors to return, backing down even as American
warplanes were in the air.
Clinton said it was “the outcome we preferred” and
ii
Its in our nature, the nature of
this administration, to threaten
but not be sure they mean it.”
President Clinton
called off the attack. “Now Iraq must live up to its obliga
tions,” he said. “Until we see complete compliance, we
will remain vigilant, we will keep up the pressure, we will
be ready to act.”
However, it is a vigilance that carries a price. The
United States spent more than $1 billion in rushing mili
tary forces to the Gulf earlier this year, only to stand down
when Saddam retreated.
me cost uus nine win oe nunoreas oi millions oi dol
lars more, plus the toll on the morale of U.S. forces and the
wear and tear on equipment.
Over the last few weeks, the administration worked
quietly to stitch together a coalition to isolate Saddam. It
was a diplomatic victory for Clinton.
The Security Council voted 15-0 to demand that Iraq
reverse course. Eight Arab nations, led by Saudi Arabia,
Egypt and Syria, warned that Iraq alone would bear
responsibility for the consequences of refusing to cooper
ate with arms inspectors. Even Russia, France and China
muted their usual objections about striking Iraq.
“The world spoke with one voice,” Clinton said.
But that consensus began dissolving when Iraq came
forward with a letter Saturday promising full cooperation.
The United States said the Iraqi pledges were conditional
and unclear and refused to accept them until Iraq made
clear it was promising unconditional compliance.
“Now, we will test that,” Clinton said.
WhiteJHouse officials are highly skeptical that
Saddam will keep his word.
“The balance of risk here was in favor of waiting and
testing” whether Saddam was serious about cooperating, a
senior administration official said. “If he is not, there is
plenty of time to go forward militarily.”
Clinton acknowledged that “no one can be sure” what
Saddam will do.
Iraq declares victory,
calls U.S. misguided
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - After
backing down over U.N. weapons
inspections - and narrowly avoiding
an American missile strike - Iraq in
«typical fashion Sunday declared
itself the victor in the dispute.
Vice President Taha Yassin
Ramadan told state-run television
that Iraq had been able “to prove to
the whole world that our views are
correct” and that the Americans were
misguided.
“This is the foundation and the
basis of our victory,” he declared.
It was the first official reaction to
the weekend’s tumultuous events,
and the rhetoric obviously was for
local consumption in a country
weary of U.N. sanctions and of being
isolated, even from its Arab neigh
bors.
The newscast made no mention
of President Clinton’s warning
Sunday that if Iraq does not abide by
its promise to allow U.N. weapons
teams to come back and work freely,
it will suffer a military attack.
Deputy Prime Minister Tariq
Aziz criticized Clinton’s vow that the
American government is committed
to replacing Saddam’s regime in Iraq.
“I have to condemn strongly the
statement of Mr. Clinton, the plans of
his government to overthrow the
government of Iraq,” Aziz said in an
interview on CNN. “This is a fla
grant violation of the Security
Council resolutions as well as inter
national law”
Aziz said he would not cotnment
on whether the crisis was over
because the Security Council was
still debating it. “Whether this is
going to end the current crisis is up to
the belligerents who are saber rat
tling,” he said, referring to U.S. and
British threats to attack.
Iraq would allow the U.N. arms
inspectors to do their normal work
under Security Council resolutions
and the understanding that Aziz
signed in February with U.N.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the
deputy prime minister said.
“Iraq does not accept any further
conditions,”he added, but the resolu
tion and agreement with Annan
appeared to cover Clinton’s demands
for complete access for the inspec
tors and full Iraqi cooperation with
them.
The United States and Britain
began building up their forces after
Iraq suspended cooperation last
month with the U.N. Special
Commission, which is charged with
overseeing the elimination of Iraq’s
weapons of mass destruction.
Doubts about Iraq’s uncondition
al commitment to inspections arose,
however, when Aziz told CNN on
Sunday that “Iraq is only committed
to the contents of die letter” he sent to
Annan on Saturday.
Riots set Indonesia ablaze
16 dead as protesters demand ouster of Habibie
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -
Mobs set buildings on fire, looted
shops and attacked police Saturday,
while 20,000 protesters escalated their
pro-democracy campaign in
Indonesia’s capital.
At least 16 people died over the
weekend Mien the military opened fire
on students who repeatedly tried to
march to the parliament
Hundreds more were injured in the
worst violence in Jakarta since riots that
led to the ouster of former President
Suharto in May. The riots battered the
world’s fourth-most populous nation,
which was hit hard by Asia’s financial
meltdown and still is fighting its worst
economic crisis in decades.
On Sunday, troops and armored
personnel carriers guarded the presi
dential palace and other key sites. There
I
were no fresh reports of mob rioting,
and shopkeepers swept up broken glass
from smashed windows.
With inflation and unemployment
soaring, protesters have demanded the
ouster of Suharto’s successor and for
mer protege, President B.J. Habibie.
Ignoring demands that he quit, Habibie
appeared on national television to urge
calm.
He accused protesters of wanting to
overthrow his 6-month-old government
and “endanger the unity of the nation
and the people.”
Suharto, who now lives as a virtual
recluse in Jakarta, criticized Habibie,
saying the government should apolo
gize for the students’ deaths and listen
to protesters’ demands.
“I resigned from my position to
avoid bloodshed. Why does the govern
ment now cause bloodshed?” Suharto’s
half-brother, Probosutedjo, quoted him
assaying.
In some parts of the capital, riot
police fired warning shots and tear gas
into crowds.
Military helicopters swooped
above the chaos and armored personnel
carriers were deployed. Black smoke
towered over a shopping area near one
luxury hotel only a few hundred yards
from the heavily guarded state palace.
At an emergency Cabinet meeting
there, Habibie ordered his military
chief, Gen. Wiranto, to restore order -
even though critics hold him responsi
ble for the student deaths.
Despite the carnage and damage of
the past few days, Habibie has said he
will press ahead with reforms passed
by the People’s Consultative Assembly.
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Bowles joins Prince Charles
at his 50th birthday party
LONDON (AP) - Prince Charles
and Camilla Parker Bowles danced the
night away to celebrate his 50th birth
day, and although his mother may have
disapproved, Britain’s tabloid newspa
pers on Sunday hailed his longtime
love as - well, almost a queen.
“Camilla: Queen for the Night,”
declared the Sunday Mirror. Britain’s
biggest-selling tabloid, News of the
World, carried its report about
Saturday night’s bash under the head
line “The Look of Love.”
For Parker Bowles, 51, who the
late Princess Diana had blamed for the
breakup of her marriage to Charles, it
was a public relations breakthrough. In
the past, the British press has often
lambasted her as a mistress whom the
heir to the throne can never marry.
Though an opinion poll published
Saturday said that most Britons believe
Charles would be either a “very good”
or “fairly good” king, 46 percent said
he should marry Parker Bowles.
In the telephone poll of about
1,200 people, published in the Daily
Telegraph, 61 percent of respondents
said they consider Charles a “well
intentioned but troubled man who
seems to be looking for a role.”
On Friday night, Queen Elizabeth,
also known for disapproving of Parker
Bowles, held a glittering birthday
party at Buckingham Palace, where
she toasted her son’s “vision, compas
sion and leadership.”
“Charles, tonight’s party is a trib
ute to all that you have achieved,” said
the queen, who broke tradition by pub
licly addressing her son by his first
name.
Mexico applauded for storm aid
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras
(AP) - The United States has been
upstaged by its southern neighbor in
the eyes of Hondurans digging out
from the storm that killed an estimat
ed 10,000 people across Central
America.
While Mexico’s swift response to
the disaster has been lauded, the large
but slow aid package offered by the
U.S government is seen as little more
than the duty of the world’s richest
country.
Last week, President Clinton
called for a global relief effort for
Central America and gave orders
boosting U.S. emergency aid to $70
million. Then, Tipper Gore, the wife
ofVice President A1 Gore, announced
an additional $10 million.
No other country has given more,
but Honduras was not impressed.
“Of course we expect more from
die United States. We have a right to.
Every Honduran would expect in a
crisis to count on Washington,” said
Moises Starkman Pinel, the minister
of international cooperation.
Mexico, meanwhile, was quicker
off the block. Within days after Mitch
hit two weeks ago, Mexicans sent
helicopters, cargo planes, ships, res
cue teams and a convoy of tractors
and other heavy machines.