Your article “New arms inspectors sit, wait as UN-Iraq standoff persists” (News, Jan. 18) correctly observes that the new UN weapons inspectors are still waiting to enter Iraq.
Another reason, in addition to Iraqi obstruction, that they have not begun their work seems to be the disinterest of the Security Council’s permanent members.
After its first quarterly report, the Security Council made a statement to the press urging Iraq’s government to cooperate with the inspectors. After the second quarterly report, no statement was issued.
Furthermore, the U.S. and three other permanent members watered down the report, replacing a statement that the inspectors were “now in a position to start activities in Iraq” with the statement that they “could plan and commence” preliminary tasks.
It is a minor point, but still worth noting, that the original inspectors were not expelled from Iraq the day before the U.S. and the UK bombed in 1998, as the article claims.
They withdrew themselves and were subsequently not allowed to return.
