Ehrlich on Washington column, August 31, 1998

MEWS FROM Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. Second Congressional District of Maryland 1 40 7 York Road, Suite 304 Lutherville, Maryland 21093 REPORT FROM WASHINGTON By Congressman Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. 315 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Week of August 31, 1998 The Consequences of Appeasement The resignation last week of William Scott Ritter, an ex-Marine veteran of the Gulf War and the longest serving U.S. weapons inspector in Iraq, illustrates the consequences of the Clinton Administration’s weak foreign and defense policies. Back in February, when Saddam Hussein sparked a crisis with the U.S. over the U.N. weapons inspections, President Clinton correctly amassed overwhelming U.S. military force in the Persian Gulf. I supported the administration’s action against Iraq in February because the consequences of an Iraq with weapons of mass destruction, and the means to deliver them, is too horrible to fathom. We now know that the Clinton Administration bluffed in its public show of force against Iraq. Behind the scenes, this administration did everything it could to appease Iraq and undermine the weapons inspections. We are now seeing first-hand the consequences of conducting U.S. foreign policy based on an “appeasement-at-any-price” strategy. Since the end of the Persian Gulf War in 1991, aggressive arms inspections to deny Iraq chemical, nuclear, and biological weapons has been a cornerstone of U.S. policy on Iraq. The success of United Nation Special Commission (UNSCOM) weapon inspections teams have depended on surprise, secrecy, and the understanding that any Iraqi stone-walling would be met with massive U.S. military force and diplomatic pressure. The Clinton Administration has quietly undermined the UNSCOM weapons inspections