Ehrlich on Washington column, March 1, 1998

MEWS FROM Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. Second Congressional District of Maryland 1407 York Road, Suite 304 Lutherville, Maryland 21093 315 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 EHRLICH ON WASHINGTON Week of March 1, 1998 By Congressman Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. PROBLEMS WITH IRAQ WILL CONTINUE Last week, Saddam Hussein dodged the bullet once again. With military action by the United States and our Gulf allies looming on the horizon, Saddam agreed to a last-minute plan offered by United Nations General Secretary Kofi Annan to reopen suspected weapons sites in Iraq to international inspection as mandated by several U. N. resolutions. While I am pleased that bloodshed may have been averted, this is, at best, a temporary solution to the ongoing crisis. The deal brokered by Annan involves creating a new organization within the United Nations to perform inspections of “sensitive” sites within Iraq. However, it is not clear to what extent this new entity will bolster or weaken the efforts of the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM), which Saddam has prevented from accessing several sites suspected of producing or storing weapons of mass destruction. If the net effect of the Annan deal is to replace the current inspection team with a weaker, less aggressive alternative, the United States must have no part of it. The basic facts of this situation remain unchanged. Iraq has produced, and is hiding, a deadly arsenal of chemical and biological weapons. It has also maintained medium range ballistic missiles it was required to destroy at the end of the Gulf War. With these capabilities, Iraq can rain biological and chemical terror on its Middle Eastern neighbors. If this proves to be merely another stalling tactic on the part of Saddam, then United States must compel Saddam to