Iraq invites arms inspector for talks

MSNBC ^ | 08 Aug 02 | NBC

[scab4faa]

Aug. 1 — In a surprise move, Iraq invited the chief U.N. weapons inspector to Baghdad on Thursday for talks it said could lead to a return of inspectors after nearly four years. But a senior U.S. official told NBC News that the offer did not appear to be serious.

IRAQI FOREIGN MINISTER Naji Sabri sent a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan saying the government would like chief inspector Hans Blix and U.N. weapons experts to come to Baghdad “at the earliest agreed upon time.” The United Nations imposed sanctions on Iraq after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Under U.N. Security Council resolutions, sanctions can be lifted only when inspectors certify that Iraq’s nuclear, chemical and biological weapons have been destroyed, along with the long-range missiles that could deliver them. Annan has been trying to persuade the Iraqis to allow U.N. inspectors to return, but three rounds of talks since March have failed to make any headway. At the end of the last round in Vienna on July 5, which Blix attended, Annan and Sabri agreed that technical talks would continue. The letter to Annan, dated Thursday, mentions the return of inspectors for the first time. Sabri said his government wanted to review the remaining questions about Iraq’s weapons programs and decide on measures to resolve them “when the inspection regime returns to Iraq.” “We believe that this review will be an important step towards the appropriate legal and technical assessment and treatment of the issues of disarmament and to establish a solid base for the next stage of monitoring and inspection activities,” Sabri said.

U.S. DISMISSES OFFER The senior U.S. official said U.S. officials did not believe the offer, which comes as the United States is threatening to attack Iraq in an effort to oust President Saddam Hussein. “We have no reason to believe the Iraqis are serious about letting U.N. weapons inspectors back in,” the official told NBC’s Andrea Mitchell on condition of anonymity, noting that “the Iraqis have had three opportunities to talk about a timetable and have refused to do so.” “This is just another attempt for Iraq to try to negotiate away” its international obligations, the official said.

NO RESPONSE FROM U.N. Blix, the executive chairman of the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, known as UNMOVIC, was not immediately available for comment. The inspectors left Iraq in December 1998 on the eve of a U.S.-British bombing campaign to punish Baghdad for not cooperating with the arms experts. Accounting for Iraq’s dangerous weapons is key to suspending U.N. sanctions, imposed when Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990.

[scab4faa]

Just another stall effort, Iraq is scarred and not sure what to do.

[StriperSniper]

He wants hostages/shields.

[mlocher]

liar, liar, pants on fire!

[scab4faa]

would you like to come over for some tea and nerve gas???

[scab4faa]

[oyez]

Talk is cheap.

[dutyhonorcountry]

Maybe we're closer to that invasion that it seems.

[mlocher]

lol!!!

somebody has to test these bio weapons!

[Doc-Joe]

Fellow FReepers, I just thought you might find the following to be funny. I was just on bartcop.com, a far left-wing site, where they were having some fun commenting on FReeper reaction to this news. Seems as though your partial silence on the issue is evidence that you/we are all hate-filled and dumbfounded, as shown in this post:

and hardly a peep. Pathetic. That should illustrate how hateful they really are. You can feel the disappointment that there might not be some serious bloodshed.
http://www.bartcopnation.com/dcforum/DCForumID1/7290.html

I'm not sure what these obviously confused libs are reading, but it seems as if the majority here is under the impression Bush finally got Saddam to back down. I would also call this a victory. I suppose that they just have it in their minds that we are all hateful warmongers with a thirst for blood. When we don't act as we are expected, we must be blinded by our own anger. I believe Ms. Coulter touched upon this in "Slander" (i.e., lies to support lies).

BTW, maddog, would you really want to look like Carville?
http://freerepublic.com/focus/news/704734/posts?page=5#5

[chasio649]

So there point is that we should just rollover and believe Sodomy Hussein?? I don't understand.

[Texasforever]

They AND SADDAM seem to be under some kind of misunderstanding here. We are not playing the 2nd half of the Gulf War. We are going there to remove Saddam and his entire government. That has been made very clear. Saddam is making the same mistake the Taliban made.

[Doc-Joe]

Read this quote:

You can feel the disappointment that there might not be some serious bloodshed.

I would say their "point" is that we were expected to react a certain way and failed to do so. I've spent a lot of time on this site and can say that they have formed misguided opinions about FReepers. See, we are all hate-filled evil doers. We want to starve babies and slaughter foreigners. Yes, this is an inaccurate depiction of the average FReeper. These people, however, seem to truly believe the myths which they have created in their own minds. What I find laughable is the reaction they get when FReepers fail to act in way they would expect. I guess we disappointed them by not calling for an immediate attack anyhow. You just know how we are all itching for a fight, regardless of the situation [/sarcasm]. Granted, inspectors have yet to set foot back in Iraq, but I truly hope this comes to pass. If done without condition, as has been suggested, I would see this as a complete victory for the current administration. (Unlike the previous CIC: Let us in! No? Well, nevermind then.)