Inspections and UN are a Colossal Joke

[Zeno]

From a NBC report about the inspectors leaving Iraq:

"There are 156 U.N. inspectors and support staff in Iraq from the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is in charge of nuclear inspections, and the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, which is responsible for inspecting chemical, biological and long-range missiles. "

If this number is even remotely accurate then the "inspections" are even more of a joke than can be stated with words. Even if the number were 10 times that it would still be a joke. I estimate that at least 15,000 people would be needed (including support staff) to do inspections in any sort of thorough and accurate measure in a county as large as Iraq. And especially if it was suppose to be done in "months".

How do I know? Well, I have spent 18 years working on projects that are scientifically identical in nature to what these inspectors do. We call it characterization but the technical and scientific basis for what is done is very similar. We can have scores of people working on an area that is only 20 to 100 acres in size and take a few years to come up with any well-documented conclusions about the site that can be written into a peer-review report and be supported by defensible data and evidence. This would be especially true if you are looking for chemical or biological agents. And this with “full cooperation” of the facilities involved!

Can’t go into all the details. Obviously some things are easier to find or detect, but overall; the inspections are a colossal joke.

Good thing I didn’t pay much attention to this whole business. What a waste. What a joke. What a good belly laugh I got.

The US should pull out of the UN. The UN building should be demolished or taken apart piece by piece and shipped to Switzerland where the “Joke of the world” can be reassembled, like was done with London Bridge. There the political morons of the world (sans US) can pontificate to their hearts content.

Let the War begin. It should have started much earlier.

Shalom.

-Zeno

[adios]

Iraq is an area about the size of California. One hundred and fifty six inpectors couldn't do a good job if the area was the same size as Santa Monica.

[BruceZ]

The inspector's role was not to play hide and seek with Saddam. Their role was to watch the weapons being destroyed, and to verify that they were in fact being destroyed, or inspect the evidence that they had been destroyed previously. I think everyone knew that it wasn't going to work like that, and that was the point of sending them, to show the world that Saddam would not cooperate with the UN inspection process as mandated by UN resolution 1441. This was a touching all bases gesture in order to get the UN and the rest of the world on our side. It doesn't appear to have been effective towards that end, so I agree with you that the war should have been over long ago.

I was thinking that what we ought to do to turn the tables on Saddam and use his own delaying tactics against him is to tell him we are giving him one last chance to comply by a certain date, and then attack him before that date. Kind of a Dirty Harry move. That would really catch him off guard, probably save US casualties, and perhaps even keep him from being prepared to use WMD. It may even save Iraqi lives since Saddam may not have his human shields installed yet, though we do want to give the civilians time to take cover. The problem is that there are many Iraqi soldiers who want to be in the right place to defect as soon as the war starts, but not any earlier for obvious reasons.

One question I have never heard asked is this: If the inspector's can't find the weapons now even though they can go anywhere they want in Iraq, how are we going to find them even after we change regimes?

[Chris Alger]

"If the inspector's can't find the weapons now even though they can go anywhere they want in Iraq, how are we going to find them even after we change regimes?"

Because people that know where they're at will be on our payroll.

[tewall]

With WMD detectors /forums/images/icons/laugh.gif

On a more serious note, even though the inspectors can go anywhere they want, the WMD's are mobile, so that doesn't help. After the war, there won't be people moving them around, so that will help. Plus there will be a lot moe people looking.

I also suspect we know where a lot of them are, but aren't divulging that because if we did they would take steps to prevent our getting them. OTOH I'm sure we won't get all of them.

[BruceZ]

My other idea was aimed at France, Turkey, and other countries that still aren't convinced that Iraq has WMD. Just tell them that if we find any, we will use them on all the dissenting nations. If they truly believe the threat is insignificant, then this shouldn't bother them. Otherwise, they will be induced to perceive the threat the same way that we do. We wouldn't have to actually do it, after they side with us we can say we were just making a point /forums/images/icons/grin.gif

[matt_d]

Out of interest, what odds would people give that no WMD with a delivery system capable of attacking the US mainland is found in Iraq? And what odds that no functioning biological or chemical weapons are found at all?

[Cyrus]

Out of interest, what odds would people give that no WMD with a delivery system capable of attacking the US mainland is found in Iraq? And what odds that no functioning biological or chemical weapons are found at all?

As a staunch believer in American efficiency, I would place those odds, especially about the second finding, as being extremely low.

If the TV networks leave Iraq any time soon too, then I'd wager my own money!