Iraq Agrees to Destroy Al Samoud Missiles

[adios]

Sounds great doesn't it? Until you read the details:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...ea/un_iraq_115

From the article:

"Blix was invited to discuss his 17-page report detailing the work of his staff in Iraq over the past three months. The report was submitted to the United Nations Wednesday and will be sent to council ambassadors on Friday.


In a key section of the report, read to The Associated Press by council diplomats, Blix says Saddam could have made greater efforts "to find remaining proscribed items or credible evidence showing the absence of such items."


Other sections of the report cited positive examples of Iraqi cooperation, but said it was "hard to understand why a number of the measures which are now being taken could not have been initiated earlier. If they had been taken earlier, they might have borne fruit," Blix wrote.

U.S. officials had said they expected Iraq would agree to destroy its missiles, which were found to have a range exceeding the 93-mile limit set by the Security Council at the end of the 1991 Persian Gulf War (news - web sites).

In a letter to Blix on Thursday, Iraq agreed "in principle" to destroy its Al Samoud 2 missiles, U.N. diplomats and officials said on condition of anonymity.

But it wasn't immediately clear whether Iraq's letter constituted an unconditional acceptance and whether Iraq would meet the Saturday deadline to begin the destruction, as Blix has ordered.

Blix told reporters earlier this week that the missile issue would be a key test of Iraq's cooperation.

While Blix has noted some recent Iraqi cooperation, he lamented in his report: "It is hard to understand why a number of the measures which are now being taken could not have been initiated earlier."

Nonetheless, he noted that inspections resumed only in November after a four-year break and asked: "Is it the right time to close the door?"
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The foot dragging will continue in perpetuity. Maybe the UN members should let Saddam slide on the dismantlement of the Al Samoud Missiles since it doesn't justify any action being taken. Heck let Saddam slide on everything he's supposed to comply with in the resolution since there is no justification for enforcing any compliance. In fact let's just forget about the UN resolution since it's not worth enforcing and it's ok if Saddam set's the agenda to comply with what he wants to comply with when he wants to.