Iraq: Weapons Programs, U.N. Requirements, and U.S. Policy

Publication Date: September 2003

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: International relations

Type:

Coverage: Iraq

Abstract:

After asserting that Iraq had failed to comply with U.N. Security Council resolutions that require Iraq to rid itself of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), the Bush Administration began military action against Iraq on March 19, 2003, and the regime of Saddam Hussein fell on April 9. Since then, U.S. teams have been attempting to uncover Iraq's suspected weapons of mass destruction (WMD) stockpiles, but only minor finds of WMD technology have been reported thus far.

Part of the pre-war debate over U.S. policy centered on whether Iraq's WMD programs could be ended through U.N. weapons inspections. During 1991-1998, a U.N. Special Commission on Iraq (UNSCOM) made considerable progress in dismantling and monitoring Iraq's WMD but was unable to finish verifying Iraq's claim that it has destroyed all its WMD or related equipment. Iraq's refusal of full cooperation with UNSCOM eventually prompted U.S.-British military action in December 1998. All inspectors withdrew and Iraq was uninspected during 1998-2002, leaving uncertainty as to the status of Iraq's WMD programs. At the start of military action, many of the questions about those programs remained unresolved. U.N. Security Council resolution 1483, adopted May 22, 2003, lifts sanctions on Iraq and provides for the possibility that U.N. inspectors will return to Iraq, although the United States has said it, not the United Nations, will be responsible for post-war WMD searches.

On November 10, 1994, Iraq accepted a U.N.-designated land border with Kuwait (confirmed by Resolution 833) as well as Kuwaiti sovereignty. Prior to the start of the 2003 war, Iraq did not detail the fate of about 600 Kuwaitis still missing from the first Gulf war and did not return all Kuwaiti property taken. U.S.-led teams in Iraq are attempting to resolve those issues as well.

Saddam Hussein's regime was widely deemed non-compliant in other areas, especially human rights issues. A U.S.-led no-fly zone provided some protection to Kurdish northern Iraq after April 1991. After August 1992, a no-fly zone was enforced over southern Iraq, where historically repressed Iraqi Shiites are concentrated. The zone was expanded in August 1996, but Iraq nonetheless maintained a substantial ground presence in the south. Iraq openly challenged both no-fly zones after December 1998. These enforcement operations ended after the fall of the regime. Since the fall of the regime, U.S. teams have discovered about 60 mass graves containing primarily Shiites and Kurds that Saddam Hussein had characterized as a threat to the regime.