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2003-01-14 Axis of Evil

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Posted by Steve 2003-01-14 09:11 am|| || Front Page|| [1 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 It would really help to have the inspectors nail the Iraqis just once on something of substance. The question is how. It seems to me that getting info to the inspectors secretly, keeping it secret, and then getting to the sites for a total suprise visit is the equivalent of a serious covert operation and the UN folks just cannot keep the secret long enough, or the group could already be compromised. So the effort, though noble, is doomed to failure.

Posted by Alaska Paul 2003-01-14 10:21:35|| 2003-01-14 10:21:35|| Front Page Top

#2 Wait a minute, was that Inspector Clouseau rattling a saber? Blix must be getting cheesed off, or else he's getting tired of the Iraqis and wants to get back home to Geneva.

As to staging an Adlai Stevenson moment at the U.N., I think we're going to have to do this; we need to give Tony Blair the necessary cover. He's been a stalwart friend, and you don't yank the rug out from under your friends. Perhaps we can disclose something for Inspector Clouseau to find that can't be moved so easily -- say, a uranium enriching facility. We can still take it out when the war starts.

Posted by Anonymous 2003-01-14 11:43:29|| 2003-01-14 11:43:29|| Front Page Top

#3 Maybe some of our special forces can kidnap Hans Blix one night, sneak over to where we're reasonably certain there are biochem weapons, point them out, then stick him back in his hotel room.

Or, maybe, just kidnap him and slap him with a flounder for a while. ;)

Posted by Just John 2003-01-14 11:48:28|| 2003-01-14 11:48:28|| Front Page Top

#4 I'm afraid that Adlai set the bar too high. Iraq is a very effective police state and excels at hiding stuff. Unlike the Cuban missiles, much of Iraq's WMD is easily concealable. Besides, even if we present photographic evidence, half the world will just say it might be doctored. As it is, much of our info comes from defectors with questionable motives and whose defection will have already prompted the Iraqis to move the goods.

It feels unamerican to attack a country without "proof." But now that rogue states can get WMD, we're going to have to rely on common sense. The alternative is a nuclear 9/11.

Posted by JAB 2003-01-14 11:54:02|| 2003-01-14 11:54:02|| Front Page Top

#5 Here's my take: Blix is probably 90% confident he's being taken to the cleaners, but can't prove it. The last thing he wants is another repeat of him clearing Iraq of WMD, only to have a defector pop up and give info that makes him look like a fool.

My take is that there WILL be an Adlai moment,with satellite or predator visual evidence of Iraqui "cleaning" of sites: the accusation of doctored photos was just as likely then than now. The only question is whether Blix will be the presenter, or the US of A.

Posted by Ptah 2003-01-14 14:49:25|| 2003-01-14 14:49:25|| Front Page Top

#6 Sorry, that was my anonymous comment up there, forgot to fill in the blanks (hey Fred, can we fix that?).

Ptah, I suspect you're right in that Inspector Clou..., er Blix, suspects that he's being fooled. The question is whether or not that's his mission (to be fooled). I think a fair number of the EUnuch states want precisely that, so that all this war talk will go away and they can get back down to business.

Posted by Steve White 2003-01-14 18:39:00|| 2003-01-14 18:39:00|| Front Page Top

#7 Try this on for size. Even GW is starting to get impatient. Britain, Australia, even Canada are now talking about war without UN sanction. Hint to Kofi: you are losing control of the situation; your man Blix admits he is running in circles. And even if Blix is lucky/unlucky to stumble on something, nothing he finds would be enough to sway the anti-war dodos. Therefore, much of the current rhetoric is more about influencing what Blix actually puts in his Jan 27 report, that Iraq is in "Material Breach" and Bush has the green light.

Posted by john 2003-01-14 19:31:21|| 2003-01-14 19:31:21|| Front Page Top

#8 I've wondered what would be the point of sending the get-along-gang to Iraq if they weren't going to find anything. On the other hand, if they did find something, there would be no war, no ousting of Saddam, just a simple "disarmament" under UN supervision. The goal of course is to get rid of Saddam permamently. So actually, the inspectors right now are playing their part very nicely.

Posted by Anonymous 2003-01-14 20:58:06|| 2003-01-14 20:58:06|| Front Page Top

#9 Why has Iraq's involvement in paying, sponsoring, harboring, training and conducting terrorism being completely forgotten? This is a war on terrorism, not WMD. The only reason WMD in Iraq is a problem, is because Iraq is in the hands of a manaical murderer.

Posted by Jabba the Tutt 2003-01-14 22:20:34|| 2003-01-14 22:20:34|| Front Page Top

#10 "Why has Iraq's involvement in paying, sponsoring, harboring, training and conducting terrorism being completely forgotten?"

Irrelavant and unprovable without burning sources at this time. The big fish is actually the Sauds, which is why we need Iraq back on this side of the fence, and that means that Sammy has to go down. The Sauds are bigger funders of terrorism than Iraq, because of their oil revenue. Sanctioning the Sauds would ruin the economies of Europe and Japan, if not ours. But with Iraq free, they become less revelent.

No one at present has a smoking gun with Sammy's fingers on it, so from a PR angle, its a stretch to finger him for 9-11 or much else outside his country. He is good at 'plausible deniability'. Saying he aided or abetted 9-11 without the ability to prove it looks like we are jsut making stuff up, strengthens his position in the international community. So we say nothing. And burn him for the WMD

Posted by Ben 2003-01-15 09:41:50|| 2003-01-15 09:41:50|| Front Page Top

09:41 Ben
09:13 Ben
07:22 Steve
03:51 Paul
00:33 Tony
00:20 Anonymous
00:14 Anonymous
00:01 Anonymous
23:46 Anonymous
23:45 mojo
23:04 Anonymous
23:00 Anonymous
22:44 Alaska Paul
22:20 Jabba the Tutt
22:11 Tom Roberts
22:09 Tom Roberts
20:58 Anonymous
20:44 Anonymous
20:41 Anonymous
20:38 Anonymous
20:09 Patrick Phillips
19:32 Don
19:31 john
19:26 Anna