U.S., Iraq Exchange Fire

The mini-war may be over, but the bullets, both verbal and literal, keep flying in Iraq. The live rounds Monday came in Iraq's northern no-fly zone as U.S. planes hit an Iraqi air defense battery after being fired upon. Iraq's government said four soldiers were killed after U.S. bombs made at least two direct hits on the emplacement near the city of Mosul. Meanwhile, Iraq was shifting its position on the U.N.'s oil-for-food program. One day after causing a minor stir by threatening to expell some 400 workers who monitor the program, Iraq's trade minister called a press conference to say they could stay after all -- at least for now. Still, Mohammed Mehdi Saleh insisted once more that the two-year-old exception to sanctions that allows Iraq to sell a limited amount of oil and use the money to buy food for the Iraqi people must end. "Iraq will not live forever with the oil-for-food program," Saleh said, adding that his country demands that the sanctions be lifted.

Saleh's (and presumably Saddam Hussein's) objection comes out of a fear that oil for food means sanctions will continue indefinitely, since it allows the West to make the dubious argument that sanctions actually benefit the Iraqi people by ensuring that they get at least some food. So while Saleh is backing down for now, expect this to be revisited again in the coming months before the program comes up for renewal in May.