Oil and access

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan’s proposal Monday to the Security Council to consider increasing the amount of oil Iraq may export should be viewed as an opportunity for the United States to keep a guiding hand on these tense negotiations. In exchange for oil sales, U.S. officials should demand expanded access to Iraq, and not only to its military sites.

Part of the question for the United States is timing. It cannot turn around so soon after a near-military confrontation and allow for increased oil sales, even if they are supposed to raise money for food and medicine. That sounds cold-hearted, but currently U.N. observers report there is insufficient evidence that the proper amount of supplies are getting through to the people of Iraq, rather than just its elite, and that Saddam Hussein has spent at least $1 billion in the last few years on 48 new residences for himself and top officials. The priority for Iraq’s leadership is clear.

Inspectors could play a role in seeing that food and medicine are properly distributed, just as they play a crucial role in arms inspections. Mr. Annan’s proposal is a compromise between the U.S. position and that of relief agencies. The Clinton administration understandably is reluctant to give Saddam even the appearance of a victory through increased oil sales, but could find satisfaction in ensuring that the money generated by the oil is spent correctly.

None of this can be concluded, however, until the U.N.’s arms-inspection demands are met, and that means including U.S. inspectors at all sites. Inspectors have been turned away from 73 sites since they began in 1991, raising suspicions that the Iraqi president and his Special Republican Guards are hiding and moving biological and chemical weapons. Given Iraq’s use of these lethal weapons in the past, such behavior must remain unacceptable.

Having failed to remove Saddam from office during the Persion Gulf War, the United Nations has found a way to contain him through monitoring. Any deal increasing Iraq’s ability to raise money should also allow the U.N. to raise its oversight until it is fully satisfied that Iraq’s deadly arsenal has been erased.