Responding to reports of new military plans targeting Iraq, State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters at the June 17 regular press briefing that U.S. policy towards that country had not changed.

"What we have said is that we are committed to bringing Iraq into compliance with its U.N. Security Council obligations," Boucher said. "That remains an important goal for the international community, and that's one we're working with others on."

Boucher noted that the U.S. has always maintained a clear policy stance towards the Iraqi government, viewing it as "a serious threat to the Iraqi people, to the international community, and to the neighborhood that it lives in."

While committed to the establishment of a democratic government in that country however, he noted, no plans exist at the present time to take any unilateral steps to achieve that goal.

Boucher also defended the oil-for-food pricing mechanism as an effective means of punishing the Iraqi government for its poor treatment of its people.

"This pricing mechanism was put in place because the Iraqis were trying to skim the price and get money they could use on their own account."

At this time, he noted, the U.S. will continue working with the international community in an attempt to secure its goals through diplomatic, rather than military, means.

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QUESTION: I have a couple of questions on Iraq. I think Paul does as well.

The Iraqis are complaining about the Oil-for-Food Program, about your retroactive pricing mechanism, writing letters all around saying that it's hurting their exports and their ability to feed the people, because no one wants to buy the oil not knowing what it will cost at the end of the month. Does the US feel that this retroactive pricing is sufficient to help the Iraqis gain money from their exports?

MR. BOUCHER: As with most things the Iraqis say, it's not true.

The issue here has been going on for some time -- and remember, this pricing mechanism was put in place because the Iraqis were trying to skim the price and get money that they could use on their own account, to go out and buy weapons and whiskey and whatever else they desired. So the goal of this pricing mechanism has been to make sure that there is a way of pricing these oil exports so that the international community knows what money is going into the Iraqi coffers -- in this case, the escrow accounts.

These escrow accounts have had plenty of money over the years when Iraq decides to sell oil. And when Iraq has cut off oil, they're merely cutting off the money that could go in there. But we have, over time, repeatedly seen the fact that there are billions of dollars in these accounts that Iraq is supposed to be using for health, education, welfare of its own people, that they're not spending. And that remains the case today.

QUESTION: On Iraq, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein today replied to reports yesterday in The Post that the US has new plans -- are there any specifics about these plans? Is there any change? Are you dealing with new groups?

MR. BOUCHER: These kind of reports are, I'm afraid, the exact sort of thing that we're just not in a position to talk about, whenever they come out. Any reports of new intelligence or defense directives are just things that we're not able to talk about.

We have made very clear that we think the world would be better off with a different regime in Iraq. Regime change has always been part of our policy. This regime is a serious threat to the Iraqi people, to the international community, and to the neighborhood that it lives in. The President has made that absolutely clear in his State of the Union, where he talked about Iraq's pursuit of weapons of mass destruction as well.

So we continue to work with our allies and the international community to get Iraq to comply with UN Security Council obligations, including acceptance and full cooperation with UN weapons inspectors. And beyond that, I just have to say all options remain open.

QUESTION: Before you exercise those "all options" that remain open, a lot of Arab countries and other allies of yours have said that what is the point of going through this UN mechanism if at any point the US reserves the right to take unilateral action? Are you -- while you consult with allies, have you told them that you're committed to exhausting all diplomatic options first before exercising your military ones?

MR. BOUCHER: I think what we have said is that we are committed to bringing Iraq into compliance with its UN Security Council obligations. And that remains an important goal for the international community, and that's one we're working with others on.

QUESTION: New subject?

QUESTION: Can I just ask one more along these lines? Do you believe that it is in the United States' rights in the UN Charter, out of self-defense, to attack -- in this case, Iraq, a sovereign nation -- if it is out of compliance with the UN weapons inspection regime and also has ties to international terrorism, as your own reports on the matter suggest? Would that be grounds --

MR. BOUCHER: That would be speculative on my part, to try to entertain a question like that. I'm sorry, I can't.