Washington File - No Bush "Timetable" on U.N. Inspections in Iraq

usinfo.state.gov 13 January 2003

(White House Report) (830)

BUSH HAS PUT NO "TIMETABLE" ON U.N. INSPECTIONS IN IRAQ

President Bush "has not put a timetable" on how long the United Nations weapons inspections in Iraq should continue, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer told reporters January 13, following news reports that the inspectors said their work could take as long as a year.

"The President has not put any type of artificial timetable on how long he believes is necessary for Saddam Hussein to prove to the world that he's going to comply," with United Nations Security Council demands that Iraq disarms itself of any weapons of mass destruction, Fleischer said.

Bush "has made it very clear that the role of the inspectors is a very important part of this process. The inspectors need to be in Iraq to do the job that the world has asked them to do. And they're in the middle of their work," said Fleischer.

The inspection process, he pointed out, "included a series of dates that the inspectors would report back" to the U.N. Security Council. "We're not even through those dates yet. An important one is coming up January 27th. So, I think, frankly, other than it's a slow news day, nothing really has changed about the timing in Iraq," Fleischer said.

When asked if the U.S. military troops being sent to the Gulf could be waiting there as long as a year, Fleischer responded that "the President has not put a timetable on it. And if the President hasn't put a timetable on it, I certainly won't."

WHITE HOUSE SAYS ITS POLICY ON NORTH KOREA CONSISTENT

Fleischer reconfirmed the U.S. position that North Korea must comply with its international obligations before progress can be made on other fronts.

He noted a January 13 statement at a press conference in Seoul by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly, in which Kelly said "Once we get beyond nuclear weapons, there may be opportunities with the U.S., with private investors, with other countries to help North Korea in the energy area."

"So the ball remains in North Korea's court. They know what they need to do and they need to take that action," Fleischer said.

"North Korea wants to take the world through its blackmail play book, and we won't play. It's up to North Korea to come back into international compliance with their obligations. If and when they do that, then the world, of course, would make clear to North Korea that ... the world was prepared to engage," Fleischer said.

"(W)hat we've always said is that North Korea needs to come back into compliance with international obligations. If they do not come back into compliance with international obligations, they'll continue to isolate themselves. And that begins with North Korea's dismantlement of its programs for the development of nuclear weapons."

The United States, the Press Secretary added, "is prepared to talk to North Korea. And the message is simple, that North Korea needs to take action to disarm.... There is a perfect consistency here. Mr. Kelly said that once we get beyond their nuclear weapons then there may be opportunities in the front in the area of energy.

"But as I made clear before, I said the United States is willing to talk, not negotiate. We are willing to talk about North Korea dismantling its facilities and coming back into international compliance with their obligations. Having done that, once they do that, then, at that point, North Korea can resume its place as a sovereign nation that is respected and treated by other nations in a manner consistent with their resuming those international obligations," Fleischer said.

BUSH VIEWS AS WELCOME STEP OPEC DECISION TO INCREASE PRODUCTION

Asked to give the Bush administration reaction to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' decision to increase production, Fleischer said President Bush "views OPEC's action to increase production, particularly given the protracted dispute in Venezuela, as a welcome step. It will increase global energy supplies and support global economic growth. The President views this as a welcome step."

Asked how much the oil strike in Venezuela is affecting the U.S. economy, Fleischer said "you can talk to any number of economists and get any number of different answers about it, particularly given the fact that OPEC is going to take this action that is, as I indicated, a welcome step that does address the situation in Venezuela."

"Ultimately, the markets will be the determinant of whether or not it's sufficient. But obviously, the President views this as a welcome matter," Fleischer said.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed January 12 to lift output by 7 percent beginning February 1 to compensate in part for an estimated two-million-barrel-a-day Venezuela output reduction because of the strike.

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: usinfo.state.gov)