April 7: Butler Says Don't Trust Iraq

June 12, 2000 - Lifting sanctions on Iraq in an effort to spur oil production would be a serious mistake, handing a "tremendous bargaining chip" to the world's most dangerous man, a former chief U.N. weapons inspector said.

"It would be shocking to send a signal to Saddam Hussein that after 10 years of an effort to control his weapons, we now are going to give up on that because of higher gas prices," said Richard Butler, the chief U.N. weapons inspector in Iraq from 1997 to 1999.

"It would put in his hands a tremendous bargaining chip. We don't need to do that and we shouldn't do that," he said before a lecture Thursday at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Reform Party presidential hopeful Patrick Buchanan said last week the United States should stabilize oil prices partly by lifting sanctions on Iran and Iraq and selling them oil-drilling equipment.

Butler called Buchanan's suggestion "simplistic." He said the United Nations already has agreed to allow Iraq to import oil-drilling equipment to upgrade its industry.

"Some political courage is required," Butler declared.

"What is more important: keeping gas under $2 or being sure Saddam's weapons of mass destruction are under control?" Butler asked

"Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction and the possibility they might spin out of control is the greatest threat to humankind," he said.

Besides, gas in the United States is not more expensive than it was 10 years ago - if inflation is taken into account, Butler pointed out.

In a speech at UNR's College of Arts and Sciences, Butler said Saddam is the only person in the world who has tried to destroy the tapestry of international nuclear and chemical weapons treaties established since World War II.

Butler testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week that Iraq most likely has been rebuilding its nuclear arsenal in the 18 months since weapons inspectors last were allowed in the country.

"It is crazy to assume (the weapons factories) have not been put back to work," he said.

Butler acknowledged the views of critics, including Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., who argue that it's not possible to enforce treaties because scientists cannot verify whether weapons are present with certainty.

Observed Butler: "You cannot verify any of these treaties 100 percent. But you can get into the high 90s. So I can't agree with Senator Lott and others who say they are unenforceable."

According to Butler, chemical and biological weapons are more difficult to detect than nuclear weapons.

"In Iraq, we saw a fermenter with a capacity of a few liters, and they would make beer with it in the morning - like a local home brewer would - then rinse it out and grow anthrax spores in it after lunch, and rinse it out again and make beer again the next morning," he said

"Chemical weapons in many respects - because of their toxicity and portability - are more dangerous today and present a more imminent danger today than nuclear weapons," Butler said.

One SCUD missile warhead carrying 140 liters of deadly nerve gas could kill up to 1 million people, Butler said, adding that new efforts to mix "cocktails" of biological weapons show the potential to bring back smallpox.