Maliki Committed to Saddam’s Responsibilities
This subject has two general and specific aspects; the specific aspects will be covered due to the special situation in Iraq.
- In 1990, when the first Resolution, 660, was passed in the Security Council, it indicated that it was Iraq that had attacked Kuwaiti territory. After that resolution, resolution numbers 661, 678, 687, etc., were issued. These resolutions even indicated how compensation should be paid to the Kuwaitis.
- But in the case of the Iran-Iraq war, the 1980 resolution considered both sides aggressors.
- About 10 resolutions were issued during the 8-year Iran-Iraq war, while 40 resolutions were passed during the 7-month Iraq-Kuwait war.
- During the 8 years of war, all the resolutions issued, except resolution 598, were within Article VI of the UN charter, while in the case of the Iraq-Kuwait war all the resolutions were within the framework of Article VII of the charter. The difference between these two Articles is that resolutions issued based on Article VII are judged and applied by the Security Council. But those issued based on Article VI are neither judged nor applied. Therefore there’s a main difference between these two wars. In the case of Kuwait compensation was always a fact, but in the case of Iran only in Resolution 598 and only in its 6th paragraph does it talk about determining the instigator of the war. In the 7th paragraph it is said that the damages (not compensation) to Iran should be determined. What is the reason behind this difference? The reason is that while the Security Council confesses that Iraq was the instigator of the war it considers Iran responsible for the continuation of the war after Khorramshar was recovered.
When the Iraq-Kuwait war ended and after the US invaded Iraq in 1991, the damages inflicted upon Kuwait were calculated in detail in the Security Council, and Saddam was held responsible for paying compensation. This is while Iran even hesitated in signing the 1975 border agreement with Saddam, since it thought he would leave soon. Now people can see the difference. 33 billion dollars were seized from the Saddam regime for the Kuwait war, and nothing else has been paid since his fall. However, as indicated in the resolution, 5% of Iraqi oil revenue still goes to an account in the UN and is paid to Kuwait as compensation.
Therefore, the establishment of border agreements with Iraq had to be made during Saddam’s time and the issue of compensations--which goes back to the time prior to Resolution 598--should have been brought up during Saddam’s time as well. But since we have shaken hands with the new Iraqi government and higher interests are given priority over official relations, these issues cannot be seriously tackled anymore.