Yes, Hans Blix did find violations, but they were not along the order of chemical weapons stashes, more like small missiles that exceeded the 150kilometer(? is this correct), range. Is/was Iraq playing games and trying to keep some weapons? Of course. They have Iran as a next door neighbor, just for openers, the middle east is not the most touchy-feely place to be arm-less. Do I sympathise with the bastard? Hell no! Just explaining the dynamic in terms other than presented by our leaders, that he plans on attacking us. That would always be suicidal, he is way too much into self-preservation for that.
I am certainly not claiming that the inspectors had completed their job and looked inside of every cave in Iraq, but they were also not complaining of lack of access to a significant degree. There is a difference between non-compliance and restricting access of inspectors. Even with the resolutions, Sadam was allowed to possess certain weapons, so demanding that he "completely disarm" is a little bit disingenious in the spin war. Non-compliance can of course include anything, from relatively minor to extremely serious. Thus far, inspectors had only found the former.
And make no mistake about it, there has been a major
PR/spin war already being waged for public opinion by our leaders. Hell, I thought that they were losing it based on what the inspectors were finding, but shows what I know about public opinion. BTW, I follow the news pretty addictively, and I have yet to hear even one of the loudest peaceniks defend Sadam Hussein. He is impossible to support, we just disagree on what is the wisest way to contain/deal w/ him, all angles considered. The middle east is a nightmare place to be involved in conflicts, in fact it is one of the best arguments that the isolationist crowd has. If we could somehow become less dependant on foreign oil, we could get out of there and let them kill each other if they want. We would not be the evil satan U.S.A. any more, no reason for terrrorism against us because we mostly ignore them. Maybe just send them some aid. (A hell of a lot cheaper than having our forces there). Hey, it works in Africa, (staying out of their nightmare conflicts for the most part).
