7 July 2000
IRAQI MISSILE TESTING RAISES CONTROVERSY.
The question of Iraq's capacity to build and deploy weapons of mass destruction and the ability of international weapons inspectors to prevent Baghdad from exercizing it was given new prominence by a report in the "New York Times" on 1 July concerning an Iraqi missile test.
Because the range of the Al-Samud rocket tested is less than 150 kilometers (95 miles), this test does not violate restrictions placed on Iraq by the UN. But it has raised concerns because the plants where it was produced were destroyed by American and British air strikes in December 1998. Apparently, these facilities have now been rebuilt.
A correspondent for the London "Independent" said on 3 July that the timing of the reports of the missile tests over the past weekend "suggest[s] that the U.S. and the U.K. may be planning to escalate their military attacks on Iraq, as it approaches another crunch over weapons inspections." The paper adds that "the tests are another sign that current British and American policy is failing, with no signs of any new initiatives or ideas."
A U.S. State Department spokesman appeared to lend weight to those suggestions. He said on 5 July that "[I]n the absence of United Nations inspectors on the ground -- carrying out the Security Council mandate restated as recently as December 17 in the new Resolution 1284 -- uncertainties about the significance of these activities will persist. As time passes, our concerns will increase." (David Nissman)
But, whatever we do, we mustn't allow a Republican to achieve this goal...