25 dour men in grey suits arrived in Baghdad today, the vanguard of the UN inspections regime. Hans Blix, the head of the UN commission responsible for playing tag with the Iraqis, was apparently possessed by the spirit of Neville Chamberlain when he arrived at the Baghdad Airport.
Blix said on the tarmac of Saddam Hussein International Airport, just outside Baghdad: "We have come here for one single reason and that is because the world wants to have assurances that there are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
"The situation is tense at the moment, but there is a new opportunity and we are here to provide inspection which is credible... We hope we can all take that opportunity together."
He added: "There is a new opportunity and we hope that opportunity will be well-utilised so that we can get out of sanctions. And in the long term, we will have a zone free of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East."
Yep, 'cept for the missing "peace in our time" bromide, it kinda felt like 1937 all over again, didn't it?? I hope that my cynicism is proven wrong, but haven't we been down this road before? The words and the circumstances may have changed, but the cirsumstances feel eerily familiar. Once again, the UN is in Iraq, playing "Pin the tail on the Donkey" minus the tail and the donkey. A show of hands here: how many of you truly believe that Saddam Hussein's regime fully intends to allow "unfettered access" to anything except the Baghdad Hilton? OK, now for all of you who raised your hands, I've got a FABULOUS deal on a bridge....
I do want sanctions to work, but we've been down this road before. If we're not careful, Hitler will be invading France and Poland before we know what's hit us...sorry, I've got the wrong evil, homicidal despot here, but you get the idea. When, exactly, do we call Saddam's bluff?? After 12 years, having a short leash may be a good idea, but having any length of leash on Saddam may, in the long term, prove to be a mistake. Let's hope I'm wrong....
