Iraq Complied with Weapons Inspectors before 2003 War
Here’s a question to which the answer is worth clarifying: did Saddam Hussein block weapons inspectors from inspecting any sites in the 2002-2003 buildup to the Iraq War? Because that’s definitely the impression that has been given. I have stated several times on this blog that Hussein let the inspectors in and that they found nothing, but I believe that the general impression–given by Bush, of course–was that they were not allowed to inspect fully, that they were blocked, impeded.
However, that does not seem to be the case. From the Arms Control Association:
UN weapons inspectors worked in Iraq from November 27, 2002 until March 18, 2003. During that time, inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the United Nations Monitoring, Verification, and Inspections Commission (UNMOVIC) conducted more than 900 inspections at more than 500 sites. The inspectors did not find that Iraq possessed chemical or biological weapons or that it had reconstituted its nuclear weapons program.Although Iraq was cooperative on what inspectors called “process”—allowing inspectors access to suspected weapons sites, for example—it was only marginally cooperative in answering the questions surrounding its weapons programs. Unable to resolve its differences with Security Council members who favored strengthening and continuing weapons inspections, the United States abandoned the inspections process and initiated the invasion of Iraq on March 19.
So the inspectors were given full access and were not blocked in any substantive way, and inspected hundreds of sites suspected of producing and/or storing WMD. Furthermore, “UN inspectors [were] given the authority to prohibit the movement of vehicles and aircraft around sites to be inspected and [had] the right to interview anyone they choose, without Iraqi officials present, in any location they wish[ed].” Iraqi compliance could be confirmed by satellite and aircraft observations. So it is not as if the Iraqis were able sneak huge or even small amounts of WMD from sites to be inspected.
No WMDs, nor any trace of a WMD program, were found.
What was then the contention was that Iraq did not accurately account for WMDs that had been produced at an earlier stage. Iraq submitted a rather massive report, but this was judged to offer little new information.However, that judgment was made by the Bush administration in a way that cannot be verified objectively; the full report that Iraq submitted has still today not been made public. Furthermore, even though some stockpiles were confirmed to exist as late as 1998, weapons inspector Scott Ritter stated that not only had Iraq’s WMD program been 90-95% verifiably eliminated, but that the “stockpiles” had a shelf life short enough as to render them ineffective by 2003, when the war started. According to Ritter, “Even if Iraq had somehow managed to hide this vast number of weapons from inspectors, what they are now storing is nothing more than useless, harmless goo.”
People talk about the intelligence reports as being the damning things, but the inspections were supposed to be the real benchmark–and those produced nothing, despite cooperation from Iraq. After discounting all that could be verified, there was virtually no room left to believe that Iraq had any WMD program that could be a threat to us.
If you believe differently, kindly point me to an objective source of information that shows otherwise.
Luis-
Ive always thought Bush made sure Saddam had no nukes before he invaded. Thats why inspectors were there. Or else all hell would break lose. What if he launched one?
Quite the contrary. The inspectors were there because politically Bush had to do the minimum necessary to appease the opposition before he invaded. At first, Bush tried to claim he could invade Iraq without Senate authority, until somebody waved a copy of the Constitution at him; then he tried to claim he could do it without even talking to other nations first, but the Senate balked at not getting together a coalition and involving the U.N. to some degree. That meant that inspectors would have to be used, otherwise it would seem like Bush just wanted to start a war without real evidence that it was necessary–which is what Bush wanted to do. Even though the inspectors found no evidence whatsoever of WMD, Bush said “not good enough” and started the war anyway.
However, Bush never wanted the inspectors himself and never intended to let them do their job. The Bush administration had more than enough intel telling them that Iraq was not a threat. They simply wanted to invade Iraq, and so they “cherry picked” the intel–that is, chose what few morsels they could find that made Iraq look dangerous, then swept the rest under the rug, and went on a scare campaign. They embraced known thugs and con men, like Ahmed Chalabi, who were known liars and criminals, who the intel people knew would lie like rugs to suit their own interests, and used them as if they were rock-solid reliable sources. They kept on saying that Saddam was working on nukes when they knew it was false; Cheney said that Iraq was 6 months away from having a nuke, but there was never anything to support that–he just plain made that up out of thin air. Just like he made up the assertion that Hussein had massive stockpiles of WMD and Cheney said that they knew “exactly” where they were. They were all lies, and knowing lies, at that.
The inspectors were not there to make sure the way was clear for an invasion–they were simply a political concession allowed by Bush no longer than was necessary to move his pieces into place so he could carry out the invasion.
But not even the Bush administration ever claimed that they were there to make sure it was safe to invade. They instead claimed that Hussein was about to become a nuclear power, therefore we should invade before that happens. No matter that the inspectors pretty clearly showed that Iraq had no such weapon program.