From: Steve Hurst/CNN
In: Washington
Posted: 3-26-97

Subject: U.S. Believes Hussein Won't Change

The United States believes Saddam Hussein will never convert to peace and Washington will not change its onerous policies toward Iraq until there is a new government in Baghdad, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said today in a speech at Georgetown University.

Asking rhetorically if it were possible to conceive of an Iraq under Saddam that would comply with all U.N. Security Council resolutions, Albright said:

"As Secretary of State, I have to deal in the realm of reality and probability. And the evidence is overwhelming that Saddam Hussein's intentions will never be peaceful...

"Clearly, a change in Iraq's government could lead to a change in U.S. policy. Should that occur, we would stand ready, in coordination with our allies and friends, to enter rapidly into a dialogue with the successor regime," Albright said.

The first oil-for-food shipments being allowed by the United Nations are just arriving and Albright's speech seemed timed to drive home with the Iraqi people that the country's desperate economic situation will get no better so long as Saddam is in power.