[MadIvan]

Blix is more than incompetent, he is an accomplice to the Iraqi regime. No more UN resolutions, no more discussion, no more coddling of leftists, no more talking to Chirac - the entire process has been revealed to be corrupt and that is the end of it. The UN is irrelevant, let us destroy this evil dictator and if the left doesn't like it, TOO BLOODY BAD.

Regards, Ivan

[MadIvan]

Bump!

[Semper Paratus]

Maybe one of the reasons Powell sounded optimistic today.

[demlosers]

Blix has said his job is to prevent war. He's doing his best to do just that.

[TimPatriot]

Blix is more than incompetent, he is an accomplice to the Iraqi regime

Cleary he is...probably bought off somehow. It's amazing to me that officials such as Paul Wolfowitz have publicly stated that the U.N. inspectors were compromised, yet scant mention in the media of it. I also suspect that Sadaam is paying Kim Dung Ill, or whatever his name is, to act up now, but that's another issue.

[Randjuke]

My main problem with Blix is his tendency to try to interpret the meaning of what he finds (or doesn't find). He should just shut up and report his findings without deciding what is a smoking gun, does Hussein deserve more time, etc. His job is not to influence whether war is justified, but rather to inspect and report.

[bellevuesbest]

Right on Ivan!

[Cicero]

An earlier thread said that Blix also omitted the reference to the drone from the written report provided to Colin Powell. When there was a complaint, he said that the report Powell had was a "draft."

If true, this incredible behavior should also be brought up.

[JonH]

I am troub;ed by the fact that the text on the drones was added after the meeting. It appears to be a deliberate effort to slant the presentation in favor of Iraq.

I now question Blilx's honesty as well as his judgement.

[Calpernia]

Not just Blix covering up. How about ElBaradei? Remember this:

REMARKS TO THE UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN L. POWELL Orders were issued to Iraq's security organizations, as well as to Saddam Hussein's own office, to hide all correspondence with the Organization of Military Industrialization. This is the organization that oversees Iraq's weapons of mass destruction activities. Make sure there are no documents left which would connect you to the OMI. We know that Saddam's son, Kusay, ordered the removal of all prohibited weapons from Saddam's numerous palace complexes. We know that Iraqi government officials, members of the ruling Baath Party and scientists have hidden prohibited items in their homes. Other key files from military and scientific establishments have been placed in cars that are being driven around the countryside by Iraqi intelligence agents to avoid detection. Thanks to intelligence they were provided, the inspectors recently found dramatic confirmation of these reports. When they searched the homes of an Iraqi nuclear scientist, they uncovered roughly 2,000 pages of documents. You see them here being brought out of the home and placed in UN hands. Some of the material is classified and related to Iraq's nuclear program.

Tell me, answer me: Are the inspectors to search the house of every government official, every Baath Party member and every scientist in the country to find the truth, to get the information they need, to satisfy the demands of our Council? Our sources tell us that in some cases the hard drives of computers at Iraqi weapons facilities were replaced. Who took the hard drives? Where did they go? What is being hidden? Why? There is only one answer to the why: to deceive, to hide, to keep from the inspectors.

AND YET ElBaradei Reports: ..."There is no indication of resumed nuclear activities," he said.......ElBaradei told the council

[bellevuesbest]

"- the entire process has been revealed to be corrupt and that is the end of it. The UN is irrelevant"

Ivan,

I've said this in other posts and it belongs here as well.

The UN? Would somebody please put up a FOR LEASE sign at the building?

[Capriole]

Ivan, you have absolutely NO IDEA what a relief it is to us Americans to know that there is at least one Brit who has preserved his sanity even when surrounded by the madness that is so prevalent in modern Britain. We love you. Thank you, and keep it coming, friend!

[dano1]

This seems choreographed to me. I suspect some other governments are pulling Blixes' strings.

[slimer]

Blix is more than incompetent, he is an accomplice to the Iraqi regime.

Why the US and the UK are not making this case and demanding that Blix step down and even face charges of conspiring with the enemy is beyond my comprehension.

People and organizations that have no power or authority to affect you are irrelevant. On the otherhand, people and organizations that can cause you harm or damage your ability to function are your enemy and they are very relevant because one cannot ignore an enemy.

[majordivit]

I do not have any confidence in Powell or Rice. Last year Rice decided to appear on Al-Jazeera to present our side of the situation. Not only did Al-Jazeera edit her comments, (Rice was so suprised...lol..what did she expect?) but Rice decided to announce to the muslim viewing audience that Islam means peace. When i heard that i almost busted a gut. I'm sure every muslim who tuned in that day laughed just as hard as i did. Telling muslims that Islam means peace is about as ludicrous as telling Amish people in Pennsylvania that they love to have their photographs taken.

It wouldn't suprise me one bit if Powell doesn't get the 9 votes needed. I say that because he sounds so confident.

[GopherIt]

The only quarrel I have with this fine article from the Times is that the correct wingspan of the drone is 24 feet and 5 and 5/16ths inches.

[Roberts]

Bump!

[WOSG]

ON another thread on this story, I asked if this would be described as a "smoking gun" ... I hope to heck the admin does use that term and make some noise about this.

The fact that this drone is a delivery mechanism for *spraying* something is a clear indication that it is a WMD delivery vehicle.

[The Wizard]

but how do you really feel.....

[virgil]

I don't think this will change votes. I could be wrong. I just don't think that the opposition is based on whether SH has WMD. It is more political and economic and they'll find some way to say that the drone is still not a good reason for war.