Hard to say, the inspectors, not surprisingly, haven't revealed exactly the extent of the sensor technology they are currently using in Iraq. Moreover, the inspectors are employed by and under the control of the UN and as such, probably would not have access, due to national security concerns, to the most advanced sensor technology available to our intelligence agencies. Would you hand over our most secret and advanced technology to the UN?
You can be sure that they are using some sort of Gamma Ray detection system, despite their inherent limitations. And you can also be just as sure that Iraq has taken steps to shield nuclear sources from detection. The whole effort has taken on the air of a cat and mouse game and the proverbial shell game. It looks to me like the successful combination will prove to be human intelligence, backed with satellite photo intel, as the primary method to detect any nuclear weapon components, with sensor technology acting only as a backup.
Bio-weapons are going to be more difficult. For sensor technology to work there, there would have to be some sort of leak and any leak would leave a trail of dead humans in its wake. The facilities capable of producing bio-weapons, while not small, can be disguised by virtue of the dual-use nature of that kind of production, and can be cleaned of any bio-weapon traces. The finished raw organisms only occupy a very small volume and can thus be stored and hidden nearly anywhere. Even when weaponized, concealment is still quite easy. Again, the task will fall primarily to humans backed with photo intelligence, not sensor technology.
Given the difficulty of finding these WMD, I'm discouraged that Bush has staked the success of the War on Terror to finding these weapons before sending the military into Iraq. IMO, he had plenty of justification without relying on the WMD excuse.
Regards,
Boot Hill
Under the circumstance yes. If not now, when is more appropriate than now? Utililize all means available to discover WMD's in Iraq. If we aren't, then why?