Iraq Liberation Act - Support For Groups Opposed To Hussein

Support For Groups Opposed To Hussein

This act required the President to designate one or more qualified recipients of assistance, with the primary requirement being opposition to the present Saddam Hussein regime. Such groups should, according to the Act, include a broad spectrum of Iraqi individuals, groups, or both, who are opposed to the Saddam Hussein regime, and are committed to democratic values, peaceful relations with Iraq's neighbors, respect for human rights, maintaining Iraq's territorial integrity, and fostering cooperation among democratic opponents of the Saddam Hussein regime. On February 4, 1999 President Clinton designated seven groups as qualifying for assistance under the Act. (see Note to 22 U.S.C. 2151 and 64 Fed. Reg. 67810). The groups were

  1. The Iraqi National Accord,
  2. The Iraqi National Congress,
  3. The Islamic Movement of Iraqi Kurdistan,
  4. The Kurdistan Democratic Party,
  5. The Movement for Constitutional Monarchy,
  6. The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, and
  7. The Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq.

The Act authorized the President to assist all such groups with: broadcasting assistance (for radio and television broadcasting), military assistance (training and equipment), and humanitarian assistance (for individuals fleeing Saddam Hussein). The Act specifically refused to grant the President authority to use U.S. Military force to achieve its stated goals and purposes, except as authorized under the Act in section 4(a)(2)) in carrying out this Act.

In November 1998 President Clinton stated that "The evidence is overwhelming that such changes will not happen under the current Iraq leadership."

Read more about this topic:  Iraq Liberation Act

Famous quotes containing the words support, groups, opposed and/or hussein:

    “I make this direct statement to the American people that there is far less chance of the United States getting into war, if we do all we can now to support the nations defending themselves against attack by the Axis than if we acquiesce in their defeat, submit tamely to an Axis victory, and wait our turn to be the object of attack in another war later on.”
    —Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)

    “Women over fifty already form one of the largest groups in the population structure of the western world. As long as they like themselves, they will not be an oppressed minority. In order to like themselves they must reject trivialization by others of who and what they are. A grown woman should not have to masquerade as a girl in order to remain in the land of the living.”
    —Germaine Greer (b. 1939)

    “The friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
    Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel;
    But do not dull thy palm with entertainment
    Of each new-hatched, unfledged comrade. Beware
    Of entrance to a quarrel; but being in,
    Bear’t that the opposed may beware of thee.”
    —William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

    “I am available to make love with Saddam Hussein to achieve peace in the Middle East.”
    —Ilona Staller (b. 1951)