Embargos Iraq

Oil prices fell sharply Tuesday in a selloff sparked by a rumor that President Bush wants to lift the embargo on Iraqi crude sales. Light, sweet crude oil for delivery in February settled at $18.69 a barrel, down 52 cents, at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Although many traders never believed the Bush rumor, once the selling started it picked up momentum and also pushed down futures prices for refined petroleum products. "The snowball effect occurred," said Thomas P.

When Imam Moustafa Al-Qazwini celebrates the end of the Muslim holy season of Ramadan on Wednesday, he will redouble the prayers he has said every day for the last 10 years. The Pomona cleric, the scion of a prominent religious family who left Iraq two decades ago, will ask God to bestow mercy on the Iraqi people suffering under the impact of American-led sanctions against the nation.

In response to Ramsey Clark's Column Left, "Iraq Embargo Is Killing Kids; End It Now," Feb. 22: Sanctions against the government of Iraq were imposed because of that government's well-documented record of brutality against minority indigenous people living within its borders. It represents a brutal, but necessary measure, as it curbs the ability of the Iraqi government to do business, and represents the price that the Iraqi people are required to pay for supporting the regime.

With the U.N. inspections regime for Iraq a dead letter and the international community getting sanctions-fatigue, the French have proposed a new plan for dealing with Saddam Hussein. The French proposal would lift the oil embargo on Iraq and impose a new commission to monitor Iraq's development of weapons of mass destruction. Vice President Al Gore signaled the U.S. government's willingness to consider this new direction in policy. It would be a mistake.

The United States has shut down companies secretly controlled by Iraq and seized nearly $10 million in goods destined for Baghdad since U.N. economic sanctions were imposed, U.S. Customs officials told a House subcommittee. "You may ask, 'Is the embargo working?' I believe it is," said John C. Kelley Jr., director of the Customs Service's strategic investigations division.

Most of us living in civilized societies generally operate on the assumption that in international affairs, as in everyday life, politics should be predicted on the fundamental premise that people do matter. Needless to say, that assumption is not always upheld by nations and the men who lead them. That is precisely what we are witnessing today because of the gulf crisis.

Jordan, once regarded as a massive gap in the trade-sanctions ring around Iraq, now is in full compliance with the U.N.-imposed embargo and is entitled to "generous" economic aid from the world community, the Bush Administration said Friday. The new assessment is a dramatic reversal of the Administration's earlier complaints that Jordan, for years Washington's closest Arab ally, had thrown in its lot with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

In a political gesture to Jordan, the Clinton Administration took the first steps Tuesday toward ending the allied naval blockade of the Red Sea that has been used to enforce the U.N. embargo against Iraq. In a terse announcement, the Pentagon said the Navy will temporarily suspend its inspection of merchant vessels outside the Jordanian port of Aqaba and instead allow agents of Lloyd's Register, a London-based firm, to verify contents of vessels after they dock.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, facing the first test of its resolve to meet the new post-Cold War challenges, has passed up the opportunity to become a significant player in the Middle East crisis, a decision that raises unsettling doubts about its future role.

The United States has given the German government a secret list of 50 German companies suspected of breaking the international embargo against Iraq, officials confirmed Friday, fueling speculation that foreign firms are still helping Saddam Hussein produce deadly weapons. Neither German nor American officials would provide details about the 50 firms or what they allegedly delivered to Iraq.

In a political gesture to Jordan, the Clinton Administration took the first steps Tuesday toward ending the allied naval blockade of the Red Sea that has been used to enforce the U.N. embargo against Iraq. In a terse announcement, the Pentagon said the Navy will temporarily suspend its inspection of merchant vessels outside the Jordanian port of Aqaba and instead allow agents of Lloyd's Register, a London-based firm, to verify contents of vessels after they dock.

In response to Ramsey Clark's Column Left, "Iraq Embargo Is Killing Kids; End It Now," Feb. 22: Sanctions against the government of Iraq were imposed because of that government's well-documented record of brutality against minority indigenous people living within its borders. It represents a brutal, but necessary measure, as it curbs the ability of the Iraqi government to do business, and represents the price that the Iraqi people are required to pay for supporting the regime.

Almost two years after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, tensions are escalating again between the Bush Administration and the regime of President Saddam Hussein over several issues--from sanctions-busting by Iraq to alleged crop sabotage by the United States--that reflect the dangers of a prolonged standoff between the two nations. U.S. officials are angered and frustrated by a growing "leakage" in U.N. economic sanctions against Baghdad.

Oil prices fell sharply Tuesday in a selloff sparked by a rumor that President Bush wants to lift the embargo on Iraqi crude sales. Light, sweet crude oil for delivery in February settled at $18.69 a barrel, down 52 cents, at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Although many traders never believed the Bush rumor, once the selling started it picked up momentum and also pushed down futures prices for refined petroleum products. "The snowball effect occurred," said Thomas P.

The United States has shut down companies secretly controlled by Iraq and seized nearly $10 million in goods destined for Baghdad since U.N. economic sanctions were imposed, U.S. Customs officials told a House subcommittee. "You may ask, 'Is the embargo working?' I believe it is," said John C. Kelley Jr., director of the Customs Service's strategic investigations division.

Most of us living in civilized societies generally operate on the assumption that in international affairs, as in everyday life, politics should be predicted on the fundamental premise that people do matter. Needless to say, that assumption is not always upheld by nations and the men who lead them. That is precisely what we are witnessing today because of the gulf crisis.

The Energy Department said Monday that the world will have adequate oil supplies even if the Persian Gulf crisis escalates into a shooting war with Iraq. Energy Secretary James D. Watkins made the assessment at a luncheon session with reporters, noting that the oil supplies lost as a result of the worldwide trade embargo against Iraq will be made up--mainly through stepped-up production by Saudi Arabia--by the end of this month. Watkins, a retired Navy admiral, also expressed confidence that U.

The U.N. Security Council, attempting to close a final loophole in international trade sanctions against Iraq, voted 14 to 1 Tuesday to order virtually all air traffic to and from Iraq halted. The resolution, the United Nations' eighth designed to condemn and punish Iraq for its Aug. 2 invasion of Kuwait, calls on all nations to deny the takeoff, overflight or landing of planes suspected of carrying goods to or from Iraq or Kuwait.

The United States has given the German government a secret list of 50 German companies suspected of breaking the international embargo against Iraq, officials confirmed Friday, fueling speculation that foreign firms are still helping Saddam Hussein produce deadly weapons. Neither German nor American officials would provide details about the 50 firms or what they allegedly delivered to Iraq.

The Energy Department said Monday that the world will have adequate oil supplies even if the Persian Gulf crisis escalates into a shooting war with Iraq. Energy Secretary James D. Watkins made the assessment at a luncheon session with reporters, noting that the oil supplies lost as a result of the worldwide trade embargo against Iraq will be made up--mainly through stepped-up production by Saudi Arabia--by the end of this month. Watkins, a retired Navy admiral, also expressed confidence that U.