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Editorial: Disarmament in Iraq slips away The Oregonian Jan. 28 Hopes dimmed Monday that more weapons inspections could lead to disarmament in Iraq. Secretary of State Colin Powell, sometimes described as the Bush administration's "dove" and definitely its strongest advocate for diplomacy, made it clear that Iraq had failed to take a succession of "diplomatic exit ramps" that could have steered the world away from war. Powell's statements were sparked by a damning report from U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix, ticking off the evidence that Iraq continues to thwart inspectors and undermine the inspections process. Despite conciliatory talk to the contrary, Iraq has effectively thwarted private interviews with Iraqi scientists and barred reconnaissance overflights by inspectors. Iraq's 12,000-page arms declaration was more of an attempt to snow inspectors with paperwork than enlighten them. And what inspectors have managed to turn up - reams of hidden documents, in addition to 16 empty chemical warheads - suggests that Iraq is hiding much more. The head of U.N. nuclear weapons inspections, Mohamed ElBaradei, offered a far more optimistic assessment on Monday. Yet even ElBaradei's comments underscored the fundamental hole in the process. ElBaradei said his team's continued inspections might yield progress in a few months, "provided there is sustained proactive cooperation from Iraq." Well, yes. Both inspection teams could make huge progress given Iraq's enthusiastic help, but that's exactly what has been missing in the past two months. There's no reason to think such help will suddenly emerge. No one wants to rush to war, but without a genuine acceptance by Iraq of the "substance" of the inspections - acceptance that Blix said had not yet been offered - what is accomplished by further delays? Advocates for prolonged inspections ought to be asking themselves: What is the logical endpoint here? Unless the United Nations' Security Council insists on an endpoint, it will send the same toothless message that it has sent for years: Dictators who know how to dance around U.N. inspectors can pretty much get away with whatever they want. Powell hinted Monday that, sometime soon the U.S. government plans to disclose more of what it knows about the connections between al-Qaida and Iraq. Good. That kind of evidence could be critical in cementing public opinion here and abroad, and that's very important. What our European allies think is important, too. The United States must pay close attention to what the staunchest of these - British Prime Minister Tony Blair - has to say when he meets with President Bush. Other nations that seem to line up more closely with the U.S. position already include Italy, Spain, Portugal, Denmark and the Netherlands. Lining up, so far, against intervention without another U.N. resolution are France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Sweden and Luxembourg. Their opposition to U.S. action can't be shrugged off, but the reality is that it's up to the United States to supply leadership, not a listening post. Enforcement of the U.N. resolution on disarming Iraq won't happen by doing nothing; it will happen only if the United States takes charge of it. It would be best, of course, if the United States could persuade France and Germany to join in. But U.S. interests go beyond theirs or those of the United Nations, especially if Saddam Hussein gives his weapons to terrorists. At the moment, it seems far more likely that Saddam would share his weapons with al-Qaida than disclose them to U.N. inspectors. And if he does share them, we can be pretty sure who'll be at the top of the target list. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -