Embassy Events 2003
Amb. Hill Explains U.S. Policy on Iraq to Journalism Students in Warsaw
6 March 2003Calling the controversy surrounding Iraq “one of the most difficult
problems I’ve ever seen in my lifetime,” Ambassador Christopher Hill
told journalism students in Warsaw that the United States will do
whatever it needs to disarm Saddam Hussein.
Ambassador Hill
spoke with more than five-dozen graduate journalism students from
colleges and universities from the Warsaw area. The Polish Information
Agency (PAI) hosted the hour-long question-and-answer session on March
6, 2003.
The Ambassador countered criticism that the U.S. is
acting for reasons other than to disarm Iraq. He noted, for example,
that conflict is very bad for economies, so it would make no sense for
America to try to conquer Iraq’s oil. In addition, oil prices have been
falling, and there are “some exciting new developments in the area of
other energy supplies.”
He said that the fact that the U.S. has
worked through the United Nations on this issue over the past dozen
years is proof that it does want to cooperate with other countries to
find a solution.
To those who might question whether a
diplomatic solution to the crisis was still possible, Ambassador Hill
stressed that there have already been 18 U.N. resolutions over 12 years
aimed at disarming Saddam Hussein. “We’re dealing with a dictator who
not only continues to brutalize his own people in ways that are simply
unimaginable to those of us who live in democracies, but who has
actually used poison gas on his own people. And yet, Saddam Hussein is
portrayed as someone who’s some sort of reasonable leader who’s open to
political dialog and to compromise,” the Ambassador said.
The
Ambassador recalled his own experience in trying to use diplomacy with
another dictator, Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic. In trying to
find a peaceful solution to the crisis in Kosovo, Ambassador Hill held
35 meetings with Milosevic. Critics charged that the Ambassador
preferred to deal with dictators rather than the victims. But, he said,
the U.S. finally got to the point where diplomacy had come to an end,
force was the only solution and everyone supported it. “What is it
about Saddam Hussein that [critics] find somehow more reasonable than
they found in Slobodan Milosevic? I don’t understand it. I personally
cannot understand this!”
Ambassador Hill outlined how Saddam
has violated U.N. demands to disarm. He cited U.N. reports confirming
that Iraq has produced thousands of liters of biological agents,
including nerve gas agents and has not accounted for them to arms
inspectors. Nor, he said, has it dismantled programs designed to
transport and disperse these weapons.
“They’ve substituted
process for performance. They’ve substituted concessions instead of
compliance. They’ve claimed that destroying a handful of missiles is
somehow disarmament. In short, it’s very clear that they have never
made any strategic decision to disarm. And instead, they’ve told U.N.
inspectors to look around a country far larger than Poland for
suitcase-size weapons of mass destruction,” said the Ambassador.
“So
the real issue today is not so much ‘Has Saddam Hussein made the
strategic decision to disarm?’ because we know he hasn’t. The issue is
not inspectors, because we know that if you have ten times the number
of inspectors, there’s no way they can find these weapons which can be
hidden in a country the size of the State of California. The real issue
is ‘What are we going to do about this?’”
The Ambassador told
his audience that the U.S. is hoping to get the support of a strong and
broad coalition of allies, should military action be necessary. “We
have come to a really critical moment. We can turn our backs on this.
Or pass Resolution #18 or #19 or #119. Or we can do something. I think
you will see that something is going to be done about this in a very
short time. And I hope, when it comes, we will have a lot of support,
because we are going to do something about this, whether it’s just us,
or just us with support, or with the U.N. I hope everyone will feel, as
I do, that this ‘something’ has to be done, and they’ll be with us.”
 Amb. Hill explains U.S. policy on Iraq to journalism students in Warsaw. |  The Polish Information Agency in Warsaw hosted Amb. Hill's presentation. |  More than 70 journalism students from Warsaw colleges and universities attended the event. | |
