"The Inspections Are Working"

[TheBear]

....and what, pray tell, exactly does that mean?

 

[Extirpated Wildlife]

They are asking the Iraqis in a Mr. Bill voice to see if they can see their weapons?

 

[TheBear]

Oh, nooooooooooo!

 

[Auntie]

Originally posted by quizzler
They are asking the Iraqis in a Mr. Bill voice to see if they can see their weapons?

And we all know what happens to Mr Bill.

 

[waterwizard]

And Sluggo Hussein says, "Sure. Just stand on this black spot, and hold this big red flag!!"

 

[strathyboy]

Who are you quoting in the title of the thread?

 

[TheBear]

It's really sad. I hear a lot of people aping the phrase, "The inspections are working.", but I don't think they even know what they are saying.

Are the inspections disarming Hussein of WMD's? Are the inspections dismantling or destroying WMD's? Are the inspections finding and destroying the tons of NCB's that all the UN agrees he has?

What exactly does the catch-phrase, "The inspections are working.", mean?

 

[Ryder]

Did any of you catch Powells pitch on TV this morning? I kinda thought it was logical, made more sense than the lefty nonsense like 'that' phrase. Mobile labs, hmmm believable, the russians had mobile nukes on train-cars, why not.

 

[TheBear]

Anyone?

 

[seebs]

I'd have to say, if someone said "two people have made claims which cannot both be true. One person is Colin Powell, and the other is Saddam Hussein", I would have to think long and hard before being convinced that Hussein was the one telling the truth. I mean, yeah, if he said "the sun will rise tomorrow", I wouldn't start planning for an eternal winter - but I'd sure be worried about what *he* meant by it.

 

[fragmentsofdreams]

It depends what one thinks that the purpose of the inspections is. If one thinks that the purpose is to disarm Sadam, they are failing miserably. If the purpose is to contain Sadam, they are working to a certain extent. If the purpose is to confirm whether Sadam is cooperating with UN resolutions, they are working perfectly. They have confirmed that he is not.

 

[bigat]

Originally posted by Ryder
Did any of you catch Powells pitch on TV this morning? I kinda thought it was logical, made more sense than the lefty nonsense like 'that' phrase. Mobile labs, hmmm believable, the russians had mobile nukes on train-cars, why not.

I did watch the Powell address.  I thought it was very convincing, but there are still those who will not believe what anyone tells them.  Apparently we should just wait for a "smoking gun".  The only problem with that is when a gun is smoking....it's already gone off!  Somebody is already dead.  ITS TOO LATE!!   9-11 was a smoking gun!  Do we really want to wait until that happens again? 

 

 

[Morat]

Seebs: The problem is that I am being told two contradictory things. One by Mr. Powell*, and one by the weapons inspectors.

Powell claims there are mobile labs. Blix claims he's actually investigated these "labs" and found them to be harmless.

Powell claims they were cleaning up inspection sites, because they knew the Inspectors were coming. Blix mentions he really doubts that, because he knows he's being spied on by several countries, and has taken a great deal of care to not let anyone know where they're going.

Powell claims that there are Hussien/Al Qaeda links. Pretty much everyone points out that no intelligence agency will confirm this, and that the man in question was in Kurdish Iraq, which isn't under Saddam's control. (Speaking of, if there are AQ members in Kurdish Iraq, why haven't we gone in and gotten them? We patrol their air-space all the time).

Powell claims the aluminum tubes are for a nuke program. The IAEA claims they aren't.

Here's the question: Should I trust Powell, who has done a rather swift 180 in the last two months and works for a man that hasn't been forthcoming at all on this issue, or the inspectors, especially given that Blix gave a much harsher report than expected?

I vote the inspectors. They're the people on the ground.

* Let it be noted that Powell is only as accurate as his information. None fo the stuff he presented was gathered by him, analyzed by him, or handled by him. He read it. I'm sure he and his staff put the presentation together, but I sincerly doubt he went over to Langly, ordered all Iraq information, got it, and put it together himself. He was undoubtably working with information supplied by the White House.

I personally consider him a rather truthful man. However, in this case, I'm forced to conclude that as honorable a man as Powell is, the opinion of an expert whose current job is specifically Iraq and those weapons carries far more weight.

 

[TheBear]

Today, Blix stated that the Iraqis are concealing things.

 

[Morat]

While looking for a news article on Blix (it would have been nice if you had posted a link), I noticed this. Admittedly, they're undoubtably biased, but this would not be the first time the White House has used out-of-date information to try to make this case. Remember his 1990's photo of a "new nuclear site"?

Sorry, while I have found the usual comments about Iraq not being forthcoming enough (by Blix), I have not found anything that says he has reversed his claim about those supposed 'bio trucks', or the "aluminum tubes".

And I found, amusingly, that British Intelligence's latest report on Iraq seems to have been plagerized from at least three sources, one of them a grad student. Typos and all.

So far, Bear, Blix seems to have dismissed all of Powell's main claims. Whom should I believe and why?

 

[TheBear]

Believe Blix. After all, it's his weapons inspectors that have no idea that they are being compromised. Dig in...Dig in deep....Don't let any amount of information sway you. Bush is an evil, evil man. And, Powell must be a turncoat, after all, he was the one who made the case to Bush, to go to the UN in the first place.

My only prayer, is that it does not take hardline, anti-Bush people, another massive terrorist attack to finally wake them up.

I hope I'm wrong, but I really think that's what it's going to take, fort some to wake up and stop playing politics with terrorists.

I'll give you all kinds of links in another thread. Besides, I watched Blix say that on FoxNews today, so that's why there's no link. I hope that's okay with you.

But, we are getting off topic here.

 

[TheBear]

Once more......

What exactly does the catch-phrase, "The inspections are working.", mean?

 

[TheBear]

/me is tapping feet, waiting for an answer.

 

[Morat]

Believe Blix. After all, it's his weapons inspectors that have no idea that they are being compromised. Dig in...Dig in deep....Don't let any amount of information sway you. Bush is an evil, evil man. And, Powell must be a turncoat, after all, he was the one who made the case to Bush, to go to the UN in the first place

Nice. A fun series of ad hominems and strawmen. The only possible point is the claim that Blix is compromised.

How so? By being spied on? He seems to be quite aware of it.

Now, I happen to know he's being compromised by the US. After all, he doesn't seem to be getting all our intel. After all, we keep revealing "new intel" all the time that the inspectors seem to find unimpressive.

So, do you have a reason I should distrust Blix and the inspectors? They have all but ruled out the possibility of Iraq having a nuclear program. They have inspected Powell's "mobile labs" and found them clean.

They seem to be doing their job. Whether or not inspections will ultimately work is yet to be seen. But you know what? I haven't seen Saddam use a chemical or biological or nuclear weapon on anyone since the Iran/Iraq war (where, in all fairness, he was playing even-steven with Iran's use, and with our equipment). Not on us during the Gulf War. Not in Kuwait. Not in the decade he's been persona non grata in the world, and had his little land embargoed and cut off.

The CIA considers the liklihood of him giving out his weapons to terrorists, or supporting terrorist assaults on the US "unlikely", unless, of course, he's got nothing left to lose. Ironically, this proposed war seems to be making things less safe, rather than more safe.

 

[Blindfaith]

180 inspectors (is that correct?) covering a country the size of California, with mobile trucks on the move.

Are the inspections working?  I liked fragmentsofdreams answer.

Sorry Bear..you're gonna have to tap your foot a bit longer I think