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Question: Can we move next door to Iraq? I notice that your--your friend, Mr. Von Sponeck has resigned, beaten you to the punch on the resignation game, and I am wondering if you have anything to say about his impending departure? Mr. Rubin: We are very pleased about his impending departure. I'm sure he has a similar view. So we can both talk about that as private citizens and I am sure that it will be better for the U.S. Government and the people of Iraq and the people of the world after that happens. Question: What was the U.S. role in his departure? Mr. Rubin: Well, look, this is a personnel decision for the United Nations to discuss. It has long been our view that Mr. Von Sponeck has exceeded his mandate in purporting to comment on areas that are without--beyond the range of his competence or his authority with respect to the wisdom of sanctions. Mr. Von Sponeck was a humanitarian affairs coordinator. He was not the arbiter of national or international security for the world. The arbiter, to the extent there is an arbiter for the world on what the proper decisions are on national and international security grounds, is the Security Council. The Security Council has imposed and reaffirmed dozens of times the imposition of sanctions on Iraq. So Mr. Von Sponeck's comments on sanctions are irrelevant beyond his competence and were one of the sources of our concern about his behavior there. In addition, he had a tendency to simply accept Iraqi claims for various events without having an independent research into them. For example, with respect to the effect of air attacks on Iraqi air defense sites, he tended to simply report under the UN banner Iraq's claims, even though Iraq has had a long history of abusing information for propaganda purposes and has a very poor record of accuracy. Question: Can you move a little further west? Mr. Rubin: On Von Sponeck? Question: Yeah, one more. Within this range of competence, however, were infant deaths. Mr. Rubin: Right. Question: And he says--basically he thinks--he says on UN surveys that somewhere between 5 and 6,000 premature infant deaths occur in Iraq each month. Mr. Rubin: Right. With respect to infant mortality, there has been numerous reports on this. I would be happy to get you the various conflicting data on it. The bottom line is that Saddam Hussein has billions of dollars to spend on his military machine and his palaces and luxuries for the elite, and so every time an Iraqi child suffers or dies, it is because Saddam Hussein has refused to spend his money to help them. There is no sanction on spending on humanitarian supplies. It's a great misnomer. One day I would hope one of you would include in one of your stories the fact that Iraq can spend all the money it wants and purchase all the humanitarian supplies it wants and help deal with these true problems that exist there. Question: Last week, a group of U.S. diplomats visited northern Iraq and the Kurdish area and they met with the Barzani and Talabani, get some promises from them. And do you have any announcement how it is going to Washington agreement? Is everything okay? Mr. Rubin: Yes, I do have some comments on that. A U.S. delegation did visit northern Iraq last week from February 8 through the 12th, to advance the reconciliation process between the two Kurdish parties there and to assess the humanitarian situation. They met with Mr. Talabani and Mr. Barzani as well as other KDP-PUK and local officials. The two parties recommitted themselves to reconciliation, in accordance with the Washington agreement and the Ankara accords. They agreed to work quickly, as quickly as possible, towards full implementation of the Washington agreement, including an end to terrorism and other steps that will help the people of the region. We agreed to work with the party to accelerate and improve reconciliation. They also discussed the status of the Oil for Food Program and how to improve the current program and better address humanitarian needs of the people as the program expands. The delegation of the United States confirmed its understanding that the 13 percent program established for northern Iraq will continue under Resolution 1284. Question: Can you say who was in that-- Mr. Rubin: It was at the office director level from the State Department and the embassy in Ankara, and a representative of the Turkish foreign ministry accompanied the delegation as an observer. Question: Do you have the names? Mr. Rubin: I will get you--I don't have the names here. I would be happy to provide them. Question: How long-- Mr. Rubin: Four days, 8th through the 12th. [end of excerpt] Full transcript of Daily Press Briefing on 2/14/00
Iraq Official Texts | Near Eastern Affairs | Department of State | Secretary of State |
