November 15, 2002

The following action item is taken from the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) web site at www.fcnl.org.

ACTION: Commend the President for Working with the UNSC

War is not inevitable. It can still be prevented by growing popular opposition, by increasing congressional opposition, and through international pressure. Please contact your Members of Congress. Urge them to contact the President and commend him for taking this matter to the UNSC. The President must be urged to give every opportunity for the UNMOVIC mission to be completed successfully without resort to war and to exercise maximum restraint when Iraq tests the limits of international resolve (as it will). The President should be implored not to jeopardize this historic moment of international unity in an intemperate rush to war. Finally, the President should be reminded that he has no mandate for war either at home or abroad, but that he has strong support for leading cooperative, international disarmament efforts.

Send letters to your Members of Congress:

CONTACTING LEGISLATORS

Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121

Sen. ________
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Rep. ________
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

CONTACTING THE ADMINISTRATION

President George W. Bush
The White House
Washington, DC 20500

White House Comment Desk:

202 456-1111
Fax: 202-456-2461
president@whitehouse.gov

BACKGROUND

UN RESOLUTION SLOWS U.S. RUSH TO WAR ON IRAQ

On Friday, November 8, the UN Security Council (UNSC) unanimously approved resolution 1441, calling for the resumption of UN weapons inspections in Iraq and pressing for full Iraqi compliance. On November 13, the government of Iraq sent a letter to the UN Secretary General accepting the resolution and opening the way for the return of weapons inspectors by November 18. Under the resolution, Iraq is required to submit a full account of its weapons stockpiles, facilities, and capabilities by December 8. UN weapons inspectors are required to report back their findings from on-the-ground inspections to the Security Council by February 21.

Many who oppose an expanded war with Iraq have expressed disappointment with the UNSC resolution, saying that other governments have simply caved in to the coercive tactics of the U.S. government. They are concerned that the resolution still permits the U.S. to take unilateral military action, and that the UNSC has simply aided the U.S. government in its rush to war.

We at FCNL suggest a different view. First, we believe the UNSC resolution will help to slow the rush to war, and the UNMOVIC weapons inspection process may provide an opportunity for the Bush administration to back down from its war rhetoric in the future. The resolution does not provide a blank check for war. In fact, it places some positive new political constraints on the U.S. By most accounts, the U.S. made a good faith effort to engage the UNSC and to achieve unity on the resolution. It will entail significant political costs for the U.S. to abandon this effort and level of international unity. Second, although the resolution reflects compromises by France and Russia, the U.S. made significant compromises, as well. The resolution focuses on disarmament instead of regime change, and many troubling, unworkable provisions from earlier U.S. drafts were dropped or softened. Finally, the administration has done, in part, what the majority of people across the country and governments around the world wanted it to do: It went to the UNSC; it is supporting the resumption of weapons inspections; and it is abiding, thus far, by the terms of the UN Charter.

U.S. public opinion has played a critical role in constraining the Bush Administration and in moving this issue back to where it belongs-at the UNSC. The community-based movement for peace across the U.S. worked effectively to achieve this outcome. But of course, this story is only just beginning, and our work to prevent war with Iraq may not end for many months.

The way in which the UNSC Resolution 1441 is interpreted over the coming weeks will shape the U.S. Administration's response to any possible difficulties or violations that arise in the weapons inspections process. The Bush Administration claims the resolution enhances the U.S. mandate for possible unilateral military action against Iraq should the UN weapons inspections encounter any resistance from Saddam Hussein. However, all fourteen other members of the UNSC have affirmed that the resolution is not a declaration of war, but first and foremost an expression of collective international will to disarm Iraq through UN weapons inspections.

Resolution 1441 has shifted the debate on action against Iraq in three significant ways. 1.) The debate on the resolution demonstrated clearly that the international community opposes the Bush Administration's policy of regime change through war against Iraq. The resolution focuses specifically on weapons of mass destruction and does not threaten regime change. 2.) The resolution opens the way for renewed UN weapons inspections to disarm Iraq, creating an alternative to war which the international community is strongly behind. 3.) The resolution places the issue back in the hands of the Security Council, requiring all Council Members to meet again in a second session to consider any possible violations by Iraq, as reported by UN weapons inspectors.

After eight weeks of intensive multilateral negotiations, the U.S. agreed to significant compromises from its original resolution text threatening war against Iraq. The resolution does threaten "serious consequences" against Iraq should it further violate the UN's call for disarmament, and still contains reference to Iraq being in "material breach" of UN resolutions. However, during negotiations Member States were repeatedly reassured by the U.S. in negotiations that such language would not be used as a "hidden trigger" for launching unilateral war.

Some in the Bush Administration continue to claim that the U.S. has the right to act unilaterally if it sees fit and that its "hands will not be tied" by the UN. However, to act outside Resolution 1441 now will be at an unwelcome political cost to the U.S. Much will still depend on Iraq's willingness, however reluctant, to comply with the inspections, but the resolution sends a strong message to the Iraqi regime that the international community is united in its resolve to disarm Iraq. It also sends a strong message to the U.S. to let weapons inspections proceed and to stay engaged multilaterally through the UN however the process unfolds in the weeks and months ahead.

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