posted on April 1, 2003 01:49:03 PM new
I'll post the article here in case we need to reference it now and in the future. Sometimes the link may become corrupted and the article may not be available after a short period of time
ElBaradei Sees Return to Iraq with Full Authority
Mon March 31, 2003 01:53 PM ET
By Louis Charbonneau
VIENNA (Reuters) - The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency said on Monday his weapons inspectors' mandate to hunt for banned arms in Iraq was still valid and he expected to return to Baghdad with full authority after the war.
Inspectors from the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the UNMOVIC monitoring and verification agency left Iraq two weeks ago after the United States informed the agencies that it would use military force to disarm Iraq.
"The IAEA mandate in Iraq is still valid and has not changed, and the IAEA is the sole body with legal authority to verify Iraq's nuclear disarmament," IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei told Reuters in an emailed statement.
"Our operation is interrupted because of hostilities. We expect to go back with full authority after the cessation of hostilities, to resume our inspection activities in Iraq," he said.
ElBaradei said the IAEA's authority to return to Iraq and resume inspections came from U.N. Security Council resolutions and the fact that Iraq is a party to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Countries opposed to the U.S.-led war in Iraq have begun to demand U.N. inspectors return to verify any discoveries of weapons of mass destruction announced by the United States or Britain.
Washington and London are expected to seize on any such finds as justification for their invasion. Western forces have already made much of their discovery of gas masks, protection suits and chemical warfare antidotes in captured Iraqi bases.
"If there are claims by coalition forces about discovering weapons of mass destruction... only international inspectors can make a conclusive assessment of the origin of these weapons," Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov told the upper house of parliament last week. "No other evaluation and final conclusion can be accepted."
France also supports this view and wants the United Nations to play the leading role in the post-war administration of Iraq.
ONLY IMPARTIAL INSPECTIONS CREDIBLE
The United States has said that U.N. inspectors might only play a limited post-war role in Iraq, a position ElBaradei appeared to be calling into question.
"The world has learned over three decades that only through impartial, international inspections can credibility be generated," he said. "Iraq is no exception to that requirement."
Three months of inspections produced no proof Iraq had a full-scale program devoted to producing mass destruction weapons, though Iraq never managed to convince U.N. inspectors of its innocence as required under U.N. resolution 1441.
While UNMOVIC inspectors came across banned missiles and had a number of unresolved issues relating to chemical and biological weapons, IAEA inspectors found no clear evidence or indications Saddam tried to revive his nuclear arms program.
"We had made good progress since resuming inspections in Iraq in November," ElBaradei said about the IAEA's nuclear inspections in Iraq which resumed late last year after a four-year hiatus.
ElBaradei also said the IAEA intended "to provide the ongoing assurances sought by the Security Council that Iraq has no nuclear weapons program," indicating he saw a long-term role in Iraq for the U.N. agency.
posted on April 1, 2003 04:20:10 PM new
This is really a radical idea - but here goes...
"But finding out that our government has lied to us in the past, when it can be proven, is quite different than accusing and speculating that they're most likely going to do what you suggested they do, in the future. How does one defend against such an attack?"
The same way an individual would.
You try telling the truth long enough that people start to put faith in you again.
Might take years but it is worth it and the only way to do it.
Also taking responsibility for your past lies is a big step toward making people believe you've turned over a new leaf.
I expect more than you do I think. I can't be friends or trust a person or an organization I think only speaks truth when it is convienient. If I catch then lying I never trust anything they say again. Being a little bit of a liar is like being just a little pregnant.
posted on April 1, 2003 04:46:38 PM new
gravid - I agree with that thinking when you are discussing an individual....like you have shared about your B-I-L.....although I might tend to give an individual another chance. Yes, burn me twice...different ballgame.
But we're not talking about an individual we're talking about millions of individuals that run thousands of departments in our government. You sound to me like you're not going to trust ANY of them until every single one of those millions of people are honest and do the right thing. That's just never going to happen.
You see how it is now. Dems blame Reps for everything and vice versa.
You're asking for the impossible, imo.
The question is not what a man can scorn, or disparage, or find fault with, but what he can love, and value, and appreciate. J. Ruskin
posted on April 1, 2003 08:03:25 PM new
You sound to me like you're not going to trust ANY of them until every single one of those millions of people are honest and do the right thing. That's just never going to happen.
Yup - That's true. I's expect it to be so rare people would be astonished and upset when one failed instead of - well of course they're crooked ya gotta expect it.
