The working assumption in Washington is that even if U.N. weapons inspectors are allowed to return to Baghdad, the Iraqi leader's regime is unlikely to be any more cooperative than it has been over the past year. Washington, then, is no longer prepared to accept any new pledges of cooperation from Iraq after the U.S.-British bombardment of the country ends, American officials say. He has stalled for more than seven years.
Time is up.
In the past, containment has centered on punitive economic sanctions, limited support for the Iraqi opposition, the dismantling of Baghdad's weapons of mass destruction and limited military retaliation for major provocations. In his speech, Berger outlined the new incentives to forces either within Iraq's ruling circle or among the Iraqi opposition. We would work to ease economic sanctions against such a new Iraq as quickly as possible. On the military side, the ongoing U.S.-British campaign, dubbed Operation Desert Fox, was designed to create the kind of turmoil that might foster actions that weaken Hussein's regime. In its strikes, the United States is trying to create a new political reality by going after the key military groups, such as the Republican Guard, that are closest to Hussein and the security units that provide his personal protection, officials say.