[Peace-discuss] Double standards on Iraq

[patton paul]

Published on Tuesday, January 28, 2003 by Reuters
U.S. Guilty of 'Shocking Double Standards' on Iraq - Butler


SYDNEY - Former U.N. arms inspector Richard Butler said Tuesday that
Washington was promoting "shocking double standards" in considering taking
unilateral military action to rid Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction.

Former chief U.N. weapons inspector Richard Butler
Former chief U.N. weapons inspector Richard Butler gestures during his
seminar presentation entitled "Weapons of Mass Destruction - the Iraq Case
and All the Others,' in Sydney on Jan. 28, 2003. Butler said Tuesday that
Washington was promoting 'shocking double standards' in considering taking
unilateral military action to rid Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction.
Photo by Tim Wimborne/Reuters
Butler, who led U.N. inspection teams in Iraq until Baghdad kicked them
out in 1998 (Common Dreams Editor's note: This is not true. See:
http://www.fair.org/extra/0210/inspectors.html), said Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein undoubtedly possessed weapons of mass destruction, and was
trying to "cheat" his way again out of the latest U.N. demand to disarm.

But a U.S. attack, without United Nations backing, and without any effort
to curb the possession of weapons of mass destruction globally, would be a
contravention of international law and sharpen the divide between Arabs
and the West.

"The spectacle of the United States, armed with its weapons of mass
destruction, acting without Security Council authority to invade a country
in the heartland of Arabia and, if necessary, use its weapons of mass
destruction to win that battle, is something that will so deeply violate
any notion of fairness in this world that I strongly suspect it could set
loose forces that we would deeply live to regret," Butler said.

Butler's successor as the chief U.N. weapons inspector in Iraq, Hans Blix,
reported Monday to the 15-member Security Council that Baghdad had only
reluctantly complied with its latest demand to disarm.

Washington is pressing the United Nations to take firm action but says it
is prepared to go it alone and has amassed a considerable military force
in the region.

Butler, addressing a conservative Australian think-tank, The Sydney
Institute, said the stated U.S. motive -- to rid Iraq of weapons of mass
destruction -- lacked credibility because of Washington's failure to deal
with others on the same terms.

Countries such as Syria are suspected of possessing chemical or biological
warfare capabilities, he said.

U.S. allies Israel, Pakistan and India have nuclear arsenals but have not
signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The United States and other permanent Security Council members were
themselves the possessors of the world's largest quantities of nuclear
weapons, he said.

"Why are they permitting the persistence of such shocking double
standards?" Butler said.

He said that, instead of beating the drums of war, the United States
should propose an international mechanism -- similar to the Security
Council -- to enforce the application of the three main conventions
controlling the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological
weaponry.

It should also take the lead by reducing its own stockpiles.

"I hope we don't have to await the train wreck before we decide to change
history," Butler said.

Copyright 2003 Reuters Ltd

__________________________________________________________________
Dr. Paul Patton
Research Scientist
Beckman Institute  Rm 3027  405 N. Mathews St.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign  Urbana, Illinois 61801
work phone: (217)-265-0795   fax: (217)-244-5180
home phone: (217)-328-4064
homepage: http://www.staff.uiuc.edu/~ppatton/index.html

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.  It is the
source of all true art and science."
-Albert Einstein
__________________________________________________________________