In the same shrewd diplomatic spirit displayed by the Pentagon in its recent purchase of a squadron of MIG-29 fighter jets from Moldova in order to preempt the sale of the planes to Iran, the U.S. should offer to buy Iraq\u27s entire biochemical weapons arsenal and then destroy it in place. Let\u27s call this emerging instrument of U.S. foreign policy  preemptive economic diplomacy

Taylor III, Porcher L.

English

University of Richmond

University of RichmondUR Scholarship RepositorySchool of Professional and Continuing StudiesFaculty Publications School of Professional and Continuing Studies1997Exercise the Power of the Purse with HusseinPorcher L. Taylor IIIUniversity of Richmond, ptaylor@richmond.eduFollow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.richmond.edu/spcs-faculty-publicationsPart of the Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology Commons, Economic TheoryCommons, and the Political Economy CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Professional and Continuing Studies at UR Scholarship Repository. It has beenaccepted for inclusion in School of Professional and Continuing Studies Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of UR ScholarshipRepository. For more information, please contact scholarshiprepository@richmond.edu.Recommended CitationTaylor, Porcher L., III. "Exercise the Power of the Purse with Hussein." Chicago Tribune, 1997, sec. 1, page 23.Ch1~go Tribune . Wednesaay, Decem1.>e1 31. 1997 SectJon 1 Cqmmentary • Exereise . tlte power of the purse with-Hussein By P.ordler L T IYlor Ill I n. the same shrewd ·-,diplol)l8Uc splrlt dlsJ;llay<:!) ~ .by lhe·Pehlalllll\.ln tis recenr . ·purctiase of ~:;quadron or MIG-2,91\ghter·jets from ' Moldova fn Order lO preeq)t the sile of'the planes to Iran, the U.S. ~hnulJI !"f P...r to buy_ lraQ's entlre-biochmical weapons arsenal and then-destroy it in place. U!fs call lhis emerging lnstrv.~t or U.S foreign policy "preemptlv• ecol!omlc diplomacii. -Wlthoufflr!ng a 549~ th.• u.s might succeed In dtsamilna Saddam Hussein's weapons or mass destruction by lk>atlng IArwe dollar signs In front or the tyrant's •yes. To ensure that neither the Iraqi dictator nor hls elite RepubUCllii Guard·personally _j>rollLfrom such a deal. Saddam would be required to stipuJatt that the mon<ly from the sale • wollld be used onJ,y to feed and provide fOl'h.ls sick and·stuving people. • Prior'to Hussein's rec:en\ ~~~II or the American CJ>mponent Qf lhe1lnlted Nations .sPecial,E_opupis§Jpn weapons lll'Spection team'."tlfe "UN distributed toad aM mecliclne bought with the l\lnds generated bylraq's UN-sanctione<t sale of up to S2 billlQn or ou every si1 months. Under the lnltlatl\fe proposed here. the UN would Ukewlse deliver food and medical supplies to Iraq's masse5 nits ' program would requln the lrqqi dictator to bring out rrom hl4lns 1raq·s entlni. cache or chemical and biological weapon.• for ln!pection, verlllcation and destruction by UNSCOM Inspectors. The rogue·state's failure io abidii by these terms would meet with swift severe and sust~JnM tJ.~ Air .!\trlk~ and cruise missile lauhchea agalnst the Republican Guard and vital_ command and commul)jqmon =ters. · No doubt. to some at Foggy Bottom and on Capitol Hill. this .. poison ror (00!1- proposal m.Jabt sound ·Uke diplOmatic heresy. But consider t~ military option and the Arab •late of .alfalrs In this Implacable crisis. The Pentagon has au but publicly conceded that air and missile str1kes would not necessarily wipe out Iraq's c00mlcal and biological storehouses or rlna.jn a new Iraqi leader. Despite the ln_llmldalfug bullil-up or ttie U.S. tlrmada In the Perstaa Gulf. tnu!ltional notions or br1nJ<manShip are provtna Inadequate to resolve the Clinton· Hussein stalemate. Unfortunately, ~!dent Clinton's threats or unUateral U.S mljltary actlon agalnst Iraq are only deepening the already wiqe Arab schism with.in the 1991 Amerlcan·l!'d Gulf War coallflon American myopia ta the supremacy or ethnic ndeill)' over sourid policy appears to be setting ln. Led by Egypt many Arab nations now perceive continued lTN·lmposed economic sancfll>ns agalnst lraqas 12'l!tamounl to Ille unjustified mu!Ulateral Castigation or a renow ~b brother. notwithstanding Hussein's blatant -pestllat>ce as policy- th-I to . them and the rest or the worl~ Such resterlng Arab world sentiment does not bode welJ for tong-term U.S. policy ln the reglon. In short. economic sanctions against Iraq simpl)' aN· not eternal. and President Chn1on needa to crall a cogent and cohesive policy now for that inevitability. As 10 thf> rAA..t;ibUity of thlS bold diplomatic lnit.iallv• to defuse Hussein's "poor man's atomac bomb- th• PentagOn's eptsode with the former So'Ji<>t Republic of Moldova Is Quite fnStructive. Afler Moldova tipped the U.S. oil that Iran was on the Vefl'! or buytng 21 or Its to)H)(-lhe-llnt MlG-29 nghten. the U.S. Air Force Quickly moved ln and bought the Jets ror tao million. Significantly. 14 or the planes are nuelear· capable S models. which have never been scrutlnlZed by the American Intelligence community In the hlJh.-stakes Moklovan crisis. gunboat diplomacy was never a vtable oJ)llon. Quite the contrary. the PentagOn brilliantly exercised the power of the purw to buy away a prospective military threat from a renegade state . Another eqtlall:; compelltng example or the emcacy or preemptive economic diplomacy 1~ the re~la lion last year tha! the Pentagon entered into a rather l~llve contra<:! with several or Russia's leading nuclear scientists to conduct a secret repon on Soviet nuclear weapons testing The incentive for the U.S to employ these scientists ln such a maMer "'l'o prevent brain drain .. 10 nuclear weapons·hung:ry states like Iran 11nj North Korea. who ar~ ontf too eager to s ign up the , atomic genJ·ises for their own prosrams Onceagaln. the Pentagon probabl)' neutralized a potentlaJ ml.lttarv crisis with dollars With these two cases as precedent. a new paradigm in s trategic foreign policy is being carved out by the U.S R""'ntly. Secretary or D.tense WWlam Cohen graphically stated 1hatHusse1n·s biochemical g<nle could "kill tvery man. woman and child on the race or the Earth.-This ts not alarmist rhetoric. The •takes could not be higher In th• current U.S deadlock with Iraq. Hu.•s•"n rT¥ibt demand an astronomleal sum of money befort> he...,, ovtr his anthrax and lethal nerir< agent arsenal under th,. proposal But that cost would probably be cheaper than what the Pentagon has already spent on th• cnsi.. and would be a smaU pnce to pa)' to make the world safer from the specter of a pocaJyptlNype plagues Porclu!r L. Taylor III. a lawyrr. l.\ o senior os:socia~ at tM O!nt.er for Stro1.tgl(' and /nUtmational StudU?S. llr oLso is an a$$istant professor. till<:hing law and IMthnhip. at th, University of R1ehmond 

Exercise the Power of the Purse with Hussein

https://scholarship.richmond.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1048&amp;context=spcs-faculty-publications

Exercise the Power of the Purse with Hussein

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

University of Richmond