Material Breach? Send the Inspectors Home
Secretary Powell said the United States found Iraq’s 12,000 page weapons report to be “a catalog of recycled information and systematic omissions… These are material omissions that in our view constitute another material breach.”
Hans Blix told the UN that Iraq’s weapons declaration contained “inconsistencies” and left “questions unanswered.” Really? We don’t know what questions Mr. Blix has, but we have one: “Why are there still people referred to as ‘weapons inspectors’ in Iraq?”
Secretary Powell said the United States found Iraq’s 12,000 page weapons report to be “a catalog of recycled information and systematic omissions… These are material omissions that in our view constitute another material breach.”
Hans Blix told the UN that Iraq’s weapons declaration contained “inconsistencies” and left “questions unanswered.” Really? We don’t know what questions Mr. Blix has, but we have one: “Why are there still people referred to as ‘weapons inspectors’ in Iraq?”
UN Resolution 1441 was admirably clear in placing the burden on Iraq to show the world it had ended its non-conventional weapons programs and destroyed any stocks of material that remained. According to a 1998 British government report, UNSCOM inspectors had destroyed 19,000 liters of botulinum; 8,400 liters of anthrax; and 2,000 liters of alflatoxin. Anyone want to bet that Saddam held something back?
After the inspections ended, UNSCOM reported that in its estimation, 4,000 tons of CW precursors were not accounted for; nor were 600 tons of VX precursors – enough to make 200 tons of VX, enough to wipe out the world. Over 31,000 CW munitions were not accounted for; nor were 17 tons of growth media for biological agents – enough to produce more than three times the amount of anthrax Iraq admitted that it had.
It would be bad if any country lied about weapons it had or what it planned to do with them. But this is not just any country. This is Iraq – that went to war against Iran and used missiles against civilian cities; that used chemical weapons on its own Kurdish population, killing up to 15,000 civilians; that invaded and raped Kuwait; that fired missiles at Israeli and Saudi cities; that used chemical weapons against its own Shiite population. This is a dictator that has used every weapon he acquired and can be counted on to use any he comes up with in the future.
The 2002 “weapons inspection teams” were not sent to Iraq to “inspect” his weapons, and certainly weren’t sent there to ferret out hidden supplies. They were there to give Saddam one chance to prove that Iraq had destroyed everything UNSCOM knew was left behind. He didn’t. The “inspectors” have nothing more to do.
Mr. Powell said “the world will not wait forever” for Iraq to comply. “There is no question that Iraq continues its pattern of non-cooperation, its pattern of deception, its pattern of dissembling, its pattern of lying, and if that is going to be the way they continue through the weeks ahead, then we’re not going to find a peaceful solution to this problem.”
The civilized world would be well advised to use those weeks ahead to bring home the “inspectors,” and make plans for a serious inspection team – the 82nd Airborne comes to mind.