Permanent historical factsheet

UNSCOM

Australia · Warfare / United Nations. Chronological records rendered directly from the World History Database.

9Records
1995–1999Date range
2Named people
0Places

Chronological records

1995

Carl Rolf Ekeus1995

Warfare / United Nations

UNSCOMs principal weapons inspector, Dr. Rod Barton from Australia, showed Taha documents obtained by UNSCOM that showed the Iraqi Government had just purchased 10 tons of growth medium from a British company called Oxoid

1997

Richard William Butler1997

Warfare / United Nations

Appointed Head of UNSCOM

1998

Richard William Butler1998

Warfare / United Nations

Inspectors withdraw from Iraq in 1998, and disbanded the following year amid allegations that the United States had used the commission's resources to spy on the Iraqi military

Richard William Butler1998

Warfare / United Nations

The UNSCOM report, authored by Richard Butler, deplored the restrictions, lack of disclosure, and concealment.

Richard William Butler1998

Warfare / United Nations

While conceding that "in statistical terms, the majority of the inspections of facilities and sites under the ongoing monitoring system were carried out with Iraq's cooperation," his letter listed a number of instances where.

Richard William Butler1998

Warfare / United Nations

unspecificed "undeclared dual-capable items" had been discovered, and where inspections had been held up so that buildings could be cleared of sensitive material.

1999

Richard William ButlerJanuary 1999

Warfare / United Nations

Evidence that UNSCOM had been used by US intelligence to penetrate Iraqi security and track President Saddam Hussein's movements emerged in January 1999. An investigation by the Washington Post claimed that CIA engineers, working as UN technicians, installed equipment to spy on Iraqi sites without Butler's knowledge, and that this explained the unidentified "burst transmissions" that had been noted by the inspectors

Richard William ButlerDecember 1999

Warfare / United Nations

The UN Security Council passed Resolution 1284, replacing UNSCOM with the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, also known as UNMOVIC. Four countries – among them Russia, France and China – abstained from voting on Res. 1284, which led the Iraqi regime to reject the resolution because they saw the resolution as a way for the UN to claim Iraq as a "protectorate"

Richard William Butler30 1999

Warfare / United Nations

Resigns from UNSCOM

Names involved

Carl Rolf EkeusRichard William Butler

Provenance

This factsheet is generated from stored World History Database records matching the country, broad category, detailed category and exact Event value shown above. Duplicate display records are collapsed; database wording is otherwise preserved. Source provenance varies by record, so formal academic citation should be checked against the relevant primary source, archive or specialist historical reference.