Too Late: White House Dismisses Iraqi Offer

[tk149]

Iraq has a land area of about 438,446 sq. km/167,000 sq. miles (link).
California has a land area of about 155,973 square miles (link).

Assuming that UN inspectors would be allowed access to all of Iraq, they would have to search an area larger than California.

In the past, Hussein has blocked inspectors' access to certain areas. In at least one instance, there are spyplane pictures of trucks leaving one Iraqi facility barred to inspectors. Inpectors were allowed in after the trucks left. (No link, heard it on TV).

Maybe Saddam thinks that he can bribe the new inspectors by giving them one or two of his palaces. You know, the ones that all the starving people in Iraq built for Saddam because they love him so much and would rather give him gifts than eat. Of course, the French helped.

 

[JellyBaby]

Assuming that UN inspectors would be allowed access to all of Iraq, they would have to search an area larger than California.

True but most of it is unpopulated desert. Surveilence above aids in finding the best spots. And even with 12 year old technology the last inspection team managed to assess, take or destroy 90-95% of the Bad Stuff. It can be done and is effective if they can do their jobs.

 

[kherman]

Originally posted by: DeadHead
What harm does it do to us? What harm is he doing to the rest of the world? He is abusive to his own people, but I am sure in their minds he has done more good then bad. They have pictures of the guy everywhere in the country it seems. Anyways just because he says he hates the US doens't me we need to attack. Hell go ask people who faught in Desert Storm, they'll tell you Saudi Arabia is not to happy with us either. We don't even belong in the area, we don't need to police it, and it seems the only reason we are there is for the oil.

As for the pics of Saddam all over the place. That's because Saddam commissions artists to do paintings/sculptures of him all over the place.

By the way, we are there because it is possible that it is in Iraq's interest to give WMD to terrorists. Saddam shares the same opinions as Many terrorist groups, and he IS vocal about it. Enough with the conspiracy theories. What about hte facts. The simplest answer is usually the correct answer.

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

By the way, we are there because it is possible that it is in Iraq's interest to give WMD to terrorists. Saddam shares the same opinions as Many terrorist groups, and he IS vocal about it. Enough with the conspiracy theories. What about hte facts. The simplest answer is usually the correct answer.

Umm, nope. It is not in Saddam's interest to give WMD to terrorist b/c he would be sharing power. We've accused him of everything except being generous. Such distribution of technology would bring widespread rebuke . . . except from countries like Pakistan and China that we KNOW have distributed such technology. Oh yeah we used to do it as well but we just distribute it to friendly countries.

You are using that "enemy of my enemy is my friend" ideology. One would hope we've moved beyond such simple concepts. MANY organizations/states dislike if not despise the US. Some have good reasons others are just jealous or really need a hug. Regardless, Saddam is not the patron saint of the terrorist world. He's certainly got stuff they WOULD use. But most of the terrorist we care about espouse creating a region and then world compatible with their viewpoint. Saddam wants all the toys.

The simplest answer is usually all simple-minded people can muster. Iraq is not a simple problem. Homeland security is not a simple problem. Afghanistan is so complex we don't even want to talk about it. If the question of Saddam/Iraq is so simple why did Rumsfeld do the Harlem Shake to avoid answering the question of what happens after Saddam?

 

[UltraQuiet]

. Such distribution of technology would bring widespread rebuke . . . except from countries like Pakistan and China that we KNOW have distributed such technology. Oh yeah we used to do it as well but we just distribute it to friendly countries.

You know you're pretty much fscked when you distribute nuclear technology under the guise of ensuring stability. I guess that's what we could do in the ME if we are convinced Saddam has WMD. Make sure everyone has them therfore ensuring stability.

Or we could just take his.

As far as Rumsfeld doing the shuffle, I too would like to know what's after. For now I will assume ther is a plan and we aren't revealing too much because if Saddam has any idea who might be replacing him they would be as dead as Julius Cesear before the end of the day.