Dr. Frank's What's-it

Zero Tolerance Watch The Iraqi

Zero Tolerance Watch

The Iraqi government has accepted without protest the right of UN weapons inspectors to make unannounced checks on "special" sites belong to President Saddam Hussein, an issue that helped derail the inspections in the 1990s, UN officials said Wednesday.

"That is settled by the resolution. It wasn't even discussed," chief weapons inspector Hans Blix said..

Well, that was nice while it lasted:

Iraqi Vows Some Limits on U.N. Probe

Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan said Wednesday that Iraq would fully cooperate with weapons inspectors, but he vowed to prevent them from gathering "intelligence."

"Any demand or question or a manner of work that conforms with the objective of the inspectors who want to verify that Iraq is free of weapons of mass destruction will be met with full cooperation," Ramadan said in an interview from Baghdad with the private Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation.

"But for demands which are clearly (meant) for intelligence or for other objectives that have nothing to do with the weapons of mass destruction, we will act in such a way so as to safeguard the country's sovereignty and security," he said.

Iraq had raised sovereignty in barring inspectors from Saddam's palaces and other sites in the 1990s.

And they're going to do it again. So here's the Iraqi "vice president" announcing Iraq's intention to flout the UNSC resolution.

"Delay and defiance will invite the severest consequences..."

Somehow, I don't think they're buying it.

Posted by Dr. Frank at November 20, 2002 12:21 PM | TrackBack