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| Axis of Evil |
| U.N. to 'freeze' Iraq sites |
| 2002-11-26 |
| U.N. weapons inspectors preparing for their first day of work in Iraq after a four-year break say they will "freeze" the buildings they enter to prevent any evidence being smuggled out. Inspectors are preparing to use state-of-the-art equipment when they begin their search for alleged weapons of mass destruction on Wednesday. Inspectors believe that in previous inspections Iraqi officials may have smuggled documents or evidence out as inspectors went in offices and factories and say they will now prevent anyone moving in or out of the buildings. Demetrius Perricos, head of the atomic team, told reporters Tuesday that state-of-the art equipment was necessary "because the eyes can fool anybody... You can enter a room which is empty, but that room might have a history and only if you are taking samples or doing some measurements you can find out that the room is not as empty as you thought it was," he said. This will be interesting, if the inspectors really are taking their jobs seriously, and maybe even if they're not. Sammy has no doubt given the word for the hard boys to be circumspect, but the hard boys aren't upper crusters — they're not hired for their intelligence. The culture doesn't allow Sammy and his clique to be civil toward the inspectors. So on the one hand, the upper crust is officially watching their behavior, knowing that screwing things up could end up with them dangling from the ends of ropes. The hard boys are getting the unofficial face-making and fist-shaking from the propaganda machine — so how long until one of them whips out a rod when the inspectors are heading for the wrong place? |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #2 Want to bet that the Special Ops guys (ours and the Brits, maybe the Aussies as well) already have an unofficial "rapid-response force" that's just itching to go? I'm comfortably certain that amongst the many contingency plans they've drawn up, pulling inspetors out of a hostile inspection site is one of them. Mojo is right, the rescue would be a useful causus belli. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2002-11-26 14:50:13 |
| #1 They knew the job was dangerous when they took it, Fred. That's why we should have a rapid-response force on alert, to go in and kick ass if needed to protect the inspectors. The fact that such a rescue would be the trigger for full-scale invasion is simply an added benefit. |
| Posted by: mojo 2002-11-26 14:25:56 |