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03-APR-02
Embracing Iraq
With all the escalating violence in the Middle East, it was easy to miss another important development in the region last week. At the end of the Arab League Summit in Beirut, member nations issued a declaration of solidarity with Saddam Hussein's Iraq, in exchange for Iraqi assurances that it now recognized the sovereignty of Kuwait.
"We reject the threat of attacking Arab countries, especially Iraq," the declaration said, according to CNN. "We affirm our rejection of any security threat on any Arab country, and we consider it a security threat to the Arab states as a whole." The summiteers went on to demand an unconditional end to international sanctions against Iraq. Saudi Prince Abdullah made a public show of embracing Iraqi emissary Izzat Ibrahim.
We don't know anything about private communications the Bush Administration -- including Vice President Cheney, who was in the region last week on a reported mission to build Arab support for tough action against Iraq -- may have made to countries signing this declaration. But it's important that the United States make it abundantly clear that this position is unacceptable.
Our, and the world's, beef with Saddam Hussein is not primarily about his reluctance up until now to foreswear another invasion of Kuwait (which Saddam knows would be even more quickly repelled than his last one). The real issue is his continuing development of weapons of mass destruction, and his continuing refusal to accept any effective international inspections regime. Indeed, if Saddam would give up his fight against inspections, there would be no "security threat" to his despicable regime, much less thoughts of military action.
It's a troubling sign that even our allies in the Arab world are ignoring this issue. And along with the Arab League's statements explicitly supporting terrorism as a legitimate weapon for Palestinians, it opens up a large gulf with the United States that cannot be papered over by happy talk about Arab cooperation in our battle in Afghanistan.
On these two issues -- the claimed legitimacy of terrorism and of Saddam's "right" to brew up nuclear, chemical and biological weapons in peace -- the United States must make it clear there can be no compromise. A "coalition against terrorism" that must accept terrorist acts and embrace a terrorist state is not a coalition with a very bright future.
Related Material:
"Arab Summit Rejects Any Attack on Iraq," CNN, March 28, 2002: http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/03/28/summit.iraq/index.html
Text of Agreement Between Iraq and Kuwait: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/28/international/28cnd-arab_text2.html (Link requires free registration.)