Weapons of Mass Discussion

The Search Continues...

Weapons hunters in Iraq are following leads that point to the presence of anthrax research and Scud missiles still hidden in the country, the chief U.S. weapons searcher said Sunday.

David Kay told Congress last week that his survey team has not found weapons of mass destruction. But he argued against drawing conclusions, saying he can provide a full picture on Iraq's weapons programs in six months to nine months.

Matt's Chat

I'm not so sure about that six to nine month disclosure deadline, but will take the wait and see attitude. Mr. Kay has been in Iraq for a few months now and has only been able to exploit ten of 130 (known) weapons storage sites. That doesn't include tracking down scientists and mobile facilities. The timetable may be a bit optomistic.

Critics will ask, "Why didn't we let the UN inspectors have this much time?" Good question, here's my answer. The UN team was doing a fine job when Saddam allowed them to their jobs. When Saddam wouldn't allow the team to continue the hunt, Kofi Annan would step in and make concessions that actually hurt the teams chances of success by putting restrictions on the team. The UN resolutions mentioned no restrictions on where the teams could look, in fact the resolutions indicated that the team should have unrestricted access to the entire country. Mr. Annan's interference didn't help the team, didn't help the UN, didn't help Iraq, and didn't help the world get rid of a threat. At some point, somebody had to realize that the UN wasn't serious about the inspection effort; otherwise, they would not have allowed concessions that clearly were against the intention of their own resolutions.

Mark's Remarks

Exactly...the biggest obstacles to UN weapons inspectors was the UN itself. Why do you think Butler left? Hmmm??? Kofi Annan is a two faced hypocrite, one who on one hand pays lip service to the issue of terrorism, but then waffles when the tough decisions come....His waffling and that of the UN is reprehensible.....on this Iraq issue, on Syria, and on Iran....The UN motto: we will not stop the destruction of tomorrow....because it might offend someone..instead,lets just make useless sanctions." The UN has shown it is more about trying to take down the defenders of freedom and the countries of prosperity, than in bringing freedom and self-determination to people.