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Letter by S. Husseini in Wa. Post



________________________________________________________________________

From: Sam Husseini <sam@accuracy.org>

Here's a letter of mine that the Post published today, minus their poor
edits. Many media outlets have been making the same mistake, saying the
Iraq shut down the weapons inspections, when infact, Richard Butler did.
Please feel free to use this letter as a resourse to correct other media
outlets.

Sorry if you get more than one copy of this, still trying to figure out my
new email program.
-Sam

The Washington Post
September 16, 1999, Thursday
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

To the Editor:

In "U.S. Air Raids on Iraq Become an Almost Daily Ritual" [news article,
August 30], it is asserted that "more than a year has passed since Iraq shut
down the U.N. weapons inspection program that President Clinton so often
proclaimed as essential to keeping the peace." This is inaccurate. The
weapons inspection program was shut down when its head, Richard Butler,
withdrew the inspectors in December of 1998 following the release of a
self-contradictory report.

On Dec. 14, the Post would later report, "Clinton administration officials
played a direct role in shaping Butler's text during multiple conversations
with him... at secure facilities in the U.S. mission to the U.N." The next
day, Butler released the report, which stated that "the majority of the
inspections of facilities and sites under the continuing monitoring system
were carried out with Iraq's cooperation" -- yet concluded that "the
Commission is not able to conduct the substantive disarmament work mandated
to it." With this tangled rational, Butler withdrew the weapons inspectors
>from Iraq. On Dec. 16 (the eve of Clinton's scheduled impeachment vote) the
U.S. began the bombing campaign "Desert Fox."

As for the weapons inspections being "essential to keeping the peace," why
did the U.S. government undermine them by using them for espionage against
Iraq? Further, why did the administration (contrary to U.N. Security Council
resolutions) repeatedly state that the devastating economic sanctions would
stay in place even if Iraq complied with the weapons inspectors? These are
hardly the policies one would expect if weapons of mass destruction were a
pivotal concern for the administration.

SAM HUSSEINI
Communications Director
Institute for Public Accuracy
Washington


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Sam Husseini                            sam@accuracy.org
Institute for Public Accuracy           Tel: 202-347-0020
915 National Press Building             Fax: 202-347-0290
Washington, DC 20045                    http://www.accuracy.org
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