Only One Thing About the War in Iraq

In the final round of inspections, was Iraq truly cooperating?

Brandon,
What is cooperation?

You seem to start with a version of "cooperation" that can't ever be met.

To respond to your first two items.
1.) The items were destroyed. They can't remake them to give evidence that they were destroyed.

2.) They said when and how things were destroyed but there wasn't actual proof left of the destruction of all items. There was proof of some destruction in every case.

Just because you don't trust them doesn't prove they weren't cooperating.

09/12/2002: President Bush speaks to UN and lays out Iraq's pattern of dishonoring 16 UN resolutions. The report refers to an Iraqi defector, interviewed by the NY Times in 2001, who claims to have visited over 20 secret chemical, biological and nuclear facilities in Iraq and who has supported his claims with documents. Bush asks the UN whether it will serve its purpose or become irrelevant.

12/19/2002: Blix issues his first report which has mixed views. He refuses to say whether Iraq possesses WMDs until UNMOVIC has reviewed the latest documents from Iraq. He admits that those documents appear to be merely reworkings of the same ones submitted in 1996. Blix says Iraq has disclosed its development of the Al Samoud missile and a variant that exceeds the permissible range. He notes that Iraq pointed out this fact and has explained it developed the missile when it was disputing UNSCOM's definition of its obligations. Blix says the issue will now need to be considered. Blix also notes that several questions remain unanswered, particularly about the existence of 500 mustard gas shells and the production and weaponization of VX. Blix states that UNMOVIC documents contradict Iraq's account of its production and unilateral destruction of anthrax in 1988 and 1991, and Iraq's account may not be accurate.

01/06/2003: Saddam calls UNMOVIC inspectors "spies."

01/17/2003: Inspectors find 12 empty warheads, all in excellent condition, which are designed to carry chemical weapons in a complex of military bunkers. Iraq claims it forgot about them, while the US and UK call the discovery the "smoking gun."

02/28/2003: Saddam Hussein says he agrees "in theory" with Blix's directions, but he has still not provided information on the VX and anthrax.

03/07/2003: Blix reports to the UN that issues with aerial surveillance have been worked out and the teams have been able to conduct no-notice inspections without resistance. He believes that Iraq has more documentation and could provide it but has refused to do so. Inspectors have found no evidence of clandestine operations or underground facilities. Since Iraq has recently provided more documents on the anthrax and VX, Blix believes that Iraq has finally determined to fully cooperate with inspections and urges more time for this.

03/07/2003: Powell responds by pointing out how long Iraq has failed to provide complete documentation, and the 17 prior occasions Iraq has denied the existence of items that the teams later turned up. Powell says there is no reason to believe that this pattern will ever end, and at some point Iraq must be disarmed by force if it will not do so voluntarily.

03/11/2003: The U.N. releases Blix's report which details extensive Iraqi activity to develop chemical and biological agent delivery systems. The report specifically notes that Iraq has drone aircraft that may be capable of delivering banned weapons, and that inspectors had discovered components for a 122 mm cluster bomb designed for chemical or biological warfare. According to Blix, Iraq claims the components were left over from an abandoned program. The cluster bombs are banned weaponry for Iraq and were not mentioned on its latest disclosures. Blix did not mention either issue in his verbal presentation to the UN.