It was also in response to Operation Desert Fox that Iraq strengthened its alliance with Al Qaeda and began co-planning a major counter-offensive against the US--Bodansky's "Bin Laden" gets into this.
Apart from that, this article raises a lot of interesting questions, more than it answers for me. It mentions "Butler, known for his repeated clashes with Iraq officials, was eventually forced out of his U.N. job by the French and Russian ambassadors in June 1999. . .Eventually, the Russians and French, looking to
resume business ties with the Iraqis, forced Butler to the sidelines." Did Russian and French business interests have anything to do with UNSCOM privately coming to "the conclusion that what else may still remain was not of 'signifcant' consequence"? Did this in turn have anything to do with the fact that "National Security Adviser Sandy Berger was known to be 'uncomfortable' with
Butler"? If the reason for Clinton getting rid of Butler was "Butler's aggressive attitude. . .ran contrary to the Clinton White House policy to 'get rid of Saddam Hussein'", then why is it that "With Butler gone, Clinton and Albright decided to push the Iraq weapons issue to the back-burner"? Some pieces of the puzzle are missing here.
Now would that be the same French UN ambassador whose name turns up on this list of those who received oil coupons, to the tune of 3 million crude oil barrels...?
Just wondering.
Bernarde Merime (French UN ambassador)/ 3 million