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Interpretations


© lawhawk

Mar 9, 2003


Interpretations. That seems to be the word of the month in foreign policy circles. You have some interpreting UN Resolution 1441 to require further Security Council action for military action against Iraq if there are further violations, while the US, UK, and others find that UN Resolution already finds Iraq in violation and Iraq's continued failure to comply means that military action could be undertaken without further UN action.

Which side is correct? That may be irrelevant as the US will likely disregard whatever the UN decides this week because the threat posed by Iraq is too great as it is. The French, who have one of the five permanent seats on the Security Council, have already said that they would veto a call for military action, all while looking the other way on existing violations.

This seems quite odd. France has wanted the US to drop its support of sanctions against Iraq. France has nearly $4 billion worth of oil contracts with Iraq that would go up in smoke if there is a regime change. The French economy is stuck in neutral and losing the influx of Iraqi money from oil would further slow the economy.

The last few days have seen new revelations that Iraq has been producing weapons that are prohibited and/or failed to report weapons programs.

Case in point:

  • The disclosure that Iraq has developed an unmanned aircraft and was not disclosed in Iraq's 12,000 page report. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,...

    Its existence was only disclosed in a declassified 173-page document circulated by the inspectors at the end of the meeting - an apparent attempt by Dr Blix to hide the revelation to avoid triggering a war.

    It appears that UN bureaucrats are deliberately trying to avert a war, even though Iraq is not in compliance with its demands. The UN, which is supposed to maintain the peace, can only do so if it maintains a credible threat of force against those nations that are in violation of international law. Undermining the credible threat poses tremendous hazards to the future of the UN as an institution.

  • Revelations that a cache of new warheads that are designed to disseminate chemical weapons were located.

  • An Iraqi defector has claimed that Iraq would not hesitate to use chemical or biological weapons in defense of the country against an invasion by the US. http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30...

    It is hard to believe that there are many that still do not believe that the Iraqis have chemical or biological weapons, yet many of the same people argue that a US attack would lead to their use (whether by Iraqis or by terrorist organizations against US interests), is dishonest debate at best, and ignorance at worst.

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    Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: View all related messages
    2.   Mar 12, 2003 9:15 AM
    http://slate.msn.com/id/2079977/


    There are risks in acceding to these new, more extended resolutions. The feuding within the council could stretch on for months, the mutual hostilitie ...

    -- posted by Lawhawk
    1.   Mar 10, 2003 10:52 AM
    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,80676,00.html - Iraq has the manufacturing capability to build submunitions for cluster bombs that are unique to chemical weapons.


    Though Iraq cla ...

    -- posted by Lawhawk



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