[maquiladora]

The benchmarks are:

* Saddam Hussein must come clean on Iraqi television about his weapons of mass destruction and say he will give them up.

* Iraq must identify stocks of anthrax and other chemical and biological weapons.

* Iraq must fly 30 Iraqi scientists and their families to Cyprus so they can be questioned about weapons programs free from intimidation.

* Iraq must account for unmanned drone aircraft that the United States and Britain say could be used for spraying poisons.

* Iraq must commit to destroying mobile biological warfare production units.

* Iraq must complete destruction of all banned missiles.

All of these, all, before Monday.
Ain't gonna happen.

[prairiebreeze]

**All of these, all, before Monday.**

I thought these benchmarks (thank you for listing them BTW) had a later date attached. Have you heard anything about that? I"m TV deprived this morning.

thanks Prairie

[Scott from the Left Coast]

The first benchmark is just silly beyond all imagination. But the real problem with "benchmarks" is that meeting these benchmarks is a matter of interpretation (as is everything in the U.N.) and potentially a matter of yet another vote to decide which interpretation to accept.

If the U.N. adopts "benchmarks", then it must also adopt a means of determining whether they are met or not, or whether being "partially met" means that maybe a little more time might allow them to be better met.

Benchmarks are no different in the U.N. than further resolutions or inspection reports -- it's all left to the interpretation of the body.

Because that is the U.N. process -- the whole point of its being (in its own eyes) anyway: to prevent war through negotiation.

Benchmarks are just another hurdle for the U.S. to pass, they are not a hurdle meant to trip Saddam, they are designed to give more room for manuever to those opposing attacking Iraq.

This needs to come out of the U.N. process -- not be immersed deeper in it. That is what is so encouraging about Bush's speech setting out an ultimatum directly from him to Saddam -- it takes the whole issue out of the U.N. process.