Ryan’s comment to the Blix

Ryan’s comment to the Blix posting inspired a longer response, but since backblog is rather limited, I figured I’d just post it on the main blog. He notes that there are many who might argue that inspections are working. I will grant that reasonable people can disagree on this issue, I would strongly assert that inspections are not working. There are numerous reasons why I would state this. The main problem is what one believes the main task of the inspectors to be. Some believe that the inspectors really are detectives, and their job is to find WMDs and related items. If one thinks that is case, then I can see why some think that inspections are working. However, 1441 really doesn’t call for inspectors, but rather auditors—people who could verify that Saddam was cooperating and actively and completely disarming as originally required by 687 in 1991. They were supposed to go to Baghdad, and the regime was supposed to demonstrate compliance with the parade of resolutions. They were sent to verify, not seek out.

On one level, I think they have been successful—I think that they have verified that Saddam isn’t cooperating, and therefore armed disarmament is necessary. Others might claim that they have been successful because they have found some weapons, such as the al-Samoud 2 missiles (see my posting from Saturday on that one), or the drones. Hence, the pro-inspectors would argue that given enough time, the inspectors will find everything. First, I am not convinced they will find everything, (indeed, I am convinced they will not). Second, the peaceful sounding “containment” option is actually quite deadly—see Walter Russell Mead’s piece”Deadlier Than War in last Wednesday’s WaPo.

Posted by Steven Taylor at March 17, 2026 01:08 PM | TrackBack