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Friday, February 14, 2003
posted by gbarto at 5:13 PM:
Powell: 'Inspections Not the Answer'Although U.N. chief inspectors report Iraq has made strides toward disarmament, secretary of state maintains world should not fall for Hussein's 'tricks'
Absolutely. But, you'll be astonished to learn,
International Community Still Split on Iraq ReportExcuse me if I fail to fall over in my chair. And you won't be astonished to find France at the top of the shirkers list:
"No one today can claim that the path of war will be shorter than the path of inspection" nor that it will lead to a "safer, more just, more stable world … for war is always the sanction of failure," de Villepin said. "The use of force is not justified at this time."The Letterman quote the other day wasn't nice, but it was accurate. The last time the French perceived the need for military action, tanks were rolling into Paris. Well, that's not fair. When the French wanted to move into the Ivory Coast, first they sent troops and then they asked the UN to sanction it. We should have vetoed the resolution. And we should have acted in accordance with French wisdom - sent troops first and asked the UN once it was a fait accompli. Of course there is a difference. We're just cowboy Americans. They're the French, vanguards of civilization... of course they're judgment can be trusted.
The French minister called for the ministers to convene again on March 14 for another update.
Incidentally, let's look at this: "war is always the sanction of failure." Indeed. The resolutions ending the first Persian Gulf war failed. The inspections regime up to '98 failed. The latest inspection regime failed. By the logic of the French, we should have let the Germans do whatever the f--- they wanted with Paris, because going to war to save their sorry asses was admitting the failure of the League of Nations. B---S---!
Alternatively, of course, we could have - and did - acknowledge the failure of the League of Nations and go to war to save them. Just as we must know acknowledge - even sanction - the failures of the UN to deal with Iraq and face the matter squarely.
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