[HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: UN and Iraq

[Shaun Hately]

On 30 Sep 2004 at 21:19, olivier.fouquet+harry at m4x.org wrote:


> I would like to outline one last time what my ideal situation would 
> have been. I would have liked the inspectors to be asked clearly if 
> they were in favor of invasion, limited strike (à la Desert Fox) or 
> simply continued inspections. 

Just one more thing I want to address here, because I think it 
illustrates a rather significant problem that the media has helped 
create.

The weapons inspectors in Iraq were not, and are not, experts on 
warfare, or military strategy, or international law.

Some are diplomats, others are scientists, a few have some military 
experience. But they were, and are, experts on weapons of mass 
destruction. A few have other qualifications, but in general terms, 
they are *not* qualified in any way, shape or form, to venture a 
meaningful opinion about whether or not military action would be a 
wise idea, or what form that military action should take.

Asking the inspectors where they were in favour of invasion would 
have made no sense - because they are not trained or qualified in 
that area.

They are certainly as entitled as anyone else to their own personal 
opinion but they are most certainly not able to venture an expert 
opinion on anything outside their field of expertise.

For some reason, some sections of the media have given the 
impression at times that these inspectors are far more qualified 
than they are, in areas that many know nothing about at all.

Asking the inspectors whether or not military action should take 
place, makes about as much sense as asking an army officer whether 
the Kyoto protocol should be ratified. It's not in their area of 
expertise.

The weapons inspectors were asked about their areas of expertise. 
They were asked if they could successfully either find the weapons, 
or confirm their non-existence. Their answer, in their official 
reports and replies (not interviews they have given to the media, 
but what they wrote down in official documents) was that unless 
Iraq gave full co-operation, while they might find weapons that 
existed, they could never hope to confirm their non-existence. And 
Iraq never gave full co-operation, and never showed any signs that 
it would.


Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought
Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html
(ISTJ)       | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 
"You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one
thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the 
facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be 
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need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil
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