Iraq's Offer to Return U.N. Weapons Inspectors Fails to Deter Bush War Plans

Interview with John Quigley, Ohio State University international law professor, conducted by Scott Harris

One day after the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, President Bush made a speech at the United Nations delivering an ultimatum to Iraq and the world that unless Baghdad immediately complied with U.N. resolutions, a war would be launched. But, on the evening of Sept. 16, Naji Sabri, Iraq's minister of foreign affairs sent a letter to U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan stating that the government of Saddam Hussein will now "allow the return of U.N. weapons inspectors to Iraq without conditions."

While Kofi Annan and many nations welcomed this shift in Iraq's position as a first step toward providing assurance that Baghdad no longer possesses weapons of mass destruction, the White House dismissed the Iraqi decision as "a tactic that will fail." Despite the sudden turn of events, Bush administration officials continued to pressure the U.N. Security Council to pass a new resolution demanding Iraq's complete cooperation with inspectors while at the same time authorizing the automatic use of force if it chose not to comply. Permanent Security Council members France and Russia have rejected the American approach and Paris has offered a less bellicose set of resolutions.

Between the Lines' Scott Harris spoke with John Quigley, professor of international law at Ohio State University, who examines Iraq's decision to allow the return of U.N. weapons inspectors in the context of the Bush administration's threat to launch a unilateral war to depose Saddam Hussein.

For more information, contact the National Lawyers Guild at (212) 679-5100 or visit their Web site at www.nlg.org

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