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Showdown With Iraq

In the U.S., soldiers kissed their families goodbye and boarded planes headed for the Persian Gulf. In Iraq, families rushed to markets to stock up on food, and angry demonstrators took to the streets. Both nations were preparing for war. Again.

The two countries are old enemies. They fought a war in 1991 after Iraq invaded its neighbor Kuwait. The U.S. won a quick victory, but Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein remained firmly in power.

The current face-off has its roots in that earlier war. After his defeat, Saddam agreed to destroy his country's large supply of powerful weapons, including biological weapons that spread deadly germs and chemical weapons that spread poison gases. Iraq agreed to allow inspectors from the United Nations to make sure that these awful weapons were destroyed and that no more were made.

A Risky Game Of Hide-and-seek
But for years Iraq has interfered with the U.N. inspection commission, known as UNSCOM. Saddam has refused to allow its investigators to look in places where weapons were believed to be hidden. This game of hide-and-seek nearly led to war in February. On October 31, Saddam took a more drastic step: he refused to allow any further inspections at all.

Last week, on Veterans Day, President Bill Clinton responded to Saddam's bold act. Clinton warned that the U.S. was prepared to attack Iraq without further warning. To prove his point, the President ordered bombers, missiles and troops to the Persian Gulf. He sent 139 aircraft and 3,000 Army ground troops to the region. The soldiers will join about 1,500 troops already in Kuwait. Their mission: to defend Kuwait if Saddam decides to invade that country again. "We continue to hope--indeed pray--that Saddam will comply," Clinton said. "But we must be prepared to act if he does not."

What Does Saddam Want?
Iraq's economy is based on the sale of oil, its main natural resource. But after the 1991 war, the U.N. punished Saddam by barring other countries from trading with Iraq and buying its oil. The ban has ruined Iraq's economy and has cost the country about $120 billion. After Iraq's leaders complained that the sanctions were hurting ordinary people, the U.N. allowed some sales of oil. Under the U.N.'s oil-for-food program, the money from oil sales is to be used to buy only food and medicines.

Iraq wants all the sanctions lifted. Saddam says he will not cooperate with the U.N. inspectors until the U.N. lets his nation trade freely. "If Saddam is serious about wanting sanctions lifted, there is an easy way to demonstrate that," Clinton said last week. "Let UNSCOM do its job."

Been There, Done That
Saddam's vows and Clinton's threats both have a familiar ring. In late 1997, Saddam began interfering with the U.N. inspectors. For months the U.S. and Iraq traded insults and threats. Then, in February 1998, the U.S. sent aircraft and warships to the Persian Gulf. The two countries were on the brink of war until U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan flew to Baghdad, Iraq's capital, and worked out a deal. Iraq promised to allow UNSCOM to do its job. It's a promise Iraq has now broken.

The Calm Before The Storm?
Last week, as U.S. forces moved into position, there were other signs that an attack was on its way. U.N. relief workers hurriedly left Iraq in buses and vans. And the U.S. and British governments warned tourists not to travel to Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Many Iraqis say they are not afraid of a U.S. attack. Said a man in a busy Baghdad market: "We have passed through this before. Personally, I am not afraid at all." An editorial in a leading Iraqi newspaper boasted that "Iraq no longer pays attention to these empty threats."

But this time the threats may be real. The U.S. believes that it can hit Iraq without waiting for other U.N. countries to vote in favor of the attack. The U.S. military has drawn up a long list of targets. It includes many of the 63 missile sites, 120 chemical-weapons sites, 91 biological-weapons sites and more than 100 nuclear-weapons sites inside Iraq where the U.S. suspects Iraq may be making illegal weapons. If Iraq won't destroy its own illegal weapons, the U.S. says it's time for the rest of the world to do it for them.

"Bombing isn't the best weapon for achieving arms control," said a U.S. military planner. "But if it's all you've got, it's what you use."

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A Look At Iraq

POPULATION 20.6 million
RELIGION Muslim
LANGUAGES Arabic, Kurdish
GOVERNMENT Saddam Hussein (Sah-dahm Who-sayn), President since 1979, holds all the power.
CAPITAL Baghdad
HISTORY The area that today makes up most of Iraq was known as Mesopotamia in ancient times. It was one of the earliest civilizations in the world.

The kingdom of Iraq was formed in 1921. In 1958 it became a republic, which is a government whose leader is not royalty. In August 1990, Iraq invaded neighboring Kuwait. Kuwait is a small country that is rich in oil fields. On January 16, 1991, the U.S. and its allies launched an attack on Iraq. By the end of February, U.S. and allied forces had defeated Iraq in the Persian Gulf War. After the war, the U.N. ordered Iraq to destroy all its "weapons of mass destruction." Iraq was forbidden to make long-range and nuclear missiles, and chemical weapons. For seven years, U.N. inspectors have tried to make sure Iraq hasn't been building illegal weapons. But Iraq has played a game of hide-and-seek with its weapons.

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