Truth is, Iraq is lying - here's how we know it
Condoleeza Rice provides the Shrub Administration's argument for why Iraq is cheating. Rice doesn't exactly break new ground here, but this is the first coherent argument I've read from any member of the Administration as to why action against Iraq may be necessary.
Instead of a commitment to disarm, Iraq has a high-level political commitment to maintain and conceal its weapons, led by Saddam and his son Qusay, who controls the Special Security Organization, which runs Iraq's concealment activities.
Instead of implementing national initiatives to disarm, Iraq maintains institutions whose sole purpose is to thwart the work of the inspectors. And instead of full cooperation and transparency, Iraq has filed a false declaration to the United Nations that amounts to a 12,200-page lie.
For example, the declaration fails to account for or explain Iraq's efforts to get uranium from abroad, its manufacture of specific fuel for ballistic missiles it claims not to have, and the gaps previously identified by the United Nations concerning more than two tons of the raw materials needed to produce thousands of gallons of anthrax and other biological weapons.
Iraq's declaration even resorted to unabashed plagiarism, with lengthy passages of United Nations reports copied word for word (or edited to remove any criticism of Iraq) and presented as original text. Far from informing, the declaration is intended to cloud and confuse the true picture of Iraq's arsenal. It is a reflection of the regime's well-earned reputation for dishonesty and constitutes a material breach of Resolution 1441, which set up the current inspections program.
Unlike other nations that have voluntarily disarmed -- and in defiance of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1441 -- Iraq is not allowing inspectors "immediate, unimpeded, unrestricted access" to facilities and people involved in its weapons program.
As a recent inspection at the home of an Iraqi nuclear scientist demonstrated, and other sources confirmed, material and documents are still being moved around in farcical shell games. The regime has "free and unrestricted" use of aerial reconnaissance.
Reason enough to go to war? Perhaps, depending on what you feel the degree of threat posed by Iraq is. In the end, it really makes little difference what the general public thinks. It seems clear that war is the destination that Shrub has locked onto. The only real questions seem to be when and how.
