Excellent news

[billvon 2,400]

Not only did we get five Al Quaeda operatives today - including one that was one of the primary organizers of the 9/11 attacks - Iraq today agreed to unconditional inspections of their country by UN arms inspectors. We might just be able to deal with the threat of Iraq without more killing, and that would be very good news, in my book at least.

[AggieDave 6]

That is good news, I was reading about that today.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[QuickDraw 0]

Hmmm..knowing how Saddam Hussain tends to operate, i think there will be several rounds of "brinkmanship" before something permanent is put in place.

-- Hope you don't die. --

I'm fucking winning

[Zenister 0]

good news indeed. sometimes the threat of the sabre moves mountains.

____________________________________
Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

[jraf 0]

Personally I think we should kill them all. They eat awful food, have indigestion and gasses. That as we all know depleates the ozone layer. Plus they are bad people.
The other reason is that we have a stockpile of munitions still from WW II and we have to do something with all that junk. Then we can buldoze the area of say Iraq and pave it over and create amusement parks and drive inn movie theaters. We would show skydiving movies, thus pacifying the region and solving the Palestinian crisis.

jraf

Me Jungleman! Me have large Babalui.
Muff #3275

[drenaline 0]

Finally the killing will be over...

thats good news for me too.

HISPA 21
www.panamafreefall.com

[QuickDraw 0]

ROFL
Why don't you just get it of yer chest while your at it

-- Hope you don't die. --

I'm fucking winning

[MarkF 0]

Just goes to show what a bit of pressure on the UN can acheive. Perhaps some more pressure can now be applied to get Israel to conform to the UN resolutions it ignores on a daily basis.

Perhaps some countries don't see Israel in the same strategic light. (oil)

Ooroo
Mark F...

[fasterfaller 0]

I hope Iraq does what they say they will do . If they don't , bomb them out of existence .

[ramon 0]

That is excellent news.

"Revolution is an abrupt change in the form of misgovernment.", Ambrose Bierce.

[Ducky 0]

I personally wouldn't hold my breath on anything this being far from the first time such a deal or "promise" was made.

The White House may have said most clearly; ''a tactical step by Iraq in hopes of avoiding strong U.N. Security Council action.'' adding "As such, it is a tactic that will fail,''

"This is not a matter of inspections. It is about disarmament of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and the Iraqi regime's compliance with all other Security Council resolutions,'' McClellan said in Washington.

Saddam has pulled this very same thing before and patience for such lame attempts to stall has gone out the window. The bombs will fly when is the only question.

kwak

Sometimes your the bug, sometimes your the windshield. Sometimes your the hammer sometimes your the nail. Question is Hun, Do you wanna get hammered or do you wanna get nailed?????

[Iflyme 0]

Quote

If they don't , bomb them out of existence .

ya, and let's make sure we get all the women and starving children, too, so they can't reproduce! That'll really teach them!!!!!

[fasterfaller 0]

Good idea !!!

[jose 0]

I have just thought of a couple new stickers that I can put on my helmet, or maybe my signature.
...........Skydiving and politics don't mix............
...........Who gives a crap...Jump ya silly fuck!..........
............Who cares what the Whuffos are doing..........

[FallRate 0]

Quote

ya, and let's make sure we get all the women and starving children, too, so they can't reproduce! That'll really teach them!!!!!

A bit harsh. But it just might do the trick.

FallRate

[hohonukai 0]

off subject of the thread, sorry Bill V...

..BLAOW!! that hits the dz atmosphere sometimes whoa! woohoo! I wanna buy those stickahs when you get 'em! 1) grrr dz politics suck ass 2) I wuv it! JUMP YA SILLY FUCK! (that is just classic) 3) hehehe who does give a fsck what the whuffos are doing.

Thank YOU, Jose. That just made my night.

[gravitysurf808 0]

Great idea iflyme but I think Saddam already thought of that strategy and imagine that....he used chemical weapons.

Don't get me wrong I am 1000% for peace throughout our world and for the end of needless death and human suffering but many of us tend to forget some parts of history too quickly.

These recent statements out of Iraq sound to me as if they might be some kind of strategic Chess Game style moves from SH to buy some time (while he moves his military equipment into civilian areas of his own people). But when you're wearing a World Superpower hats(ie: U.S.) you sometimes have to call the bluff and play by Poker style rules.

just my unsolicited .02

ummm so how was everyones jumps last weekend???

[billvon 2,400]

>I personally wouldn't hold my breath on anything this being far
>from the first time such a deal or "promise" was made.

Yep. I don't think the war of words is over, and I still think we have a long way to go before he _really_ allows unconditional inspections. And in the end it may require force anyway, either to back the inspectors or to 'punish' him again. But we are a lot closer to a peaceful resolution to this than we were yesterday. I know there are people in the US who don't want a peaceful resolution, but I hope they are in the minority.

[PhillyKev 0]

We've all been blasting the Saudis, me included about some of this stuff. But they do deserve a little credit here. Iraq's supposed capitulation came hours after Saudi Arabia said that if the UN decides to take action they will support it and allow their soil as a staging ground because it is the responsibility of all UN members to abide by the decisions of the security council.

We had a discussion regarding the UN a while ago and that the US needs to back the UN in order for it to succeed. The truth is all members need to back it in order for it to succeed, and it needs to follow through with its resolutions in order to remain viable. As much as I agree with Bill on most of this stuff, I have to say that the US saber rattling really was necessary to get the UN to back themselves and their own decisions.

[Muenkel 0]

Oh that Saddam...what a good guy! Playing by the rules. I trust him! I'm sure the tour will go like this:

"Welcome UN inspectors, this is the lab where we produce our weapons of mass destruction. On the left you will notice the biological weapon lab. On the right is the nuke lab. Oh BTW, have you been introduced to my body double? Down the hall is our training facility. This is where we train innocent Iraqi civilians to be my human shield. And last but certainly not least is my personal bunker where I hide my fucking wimpy ass while my citizens are being bombed. Hope you enjoyed the tour. Please come again and don't forget to check out our souvenir shop. Bye Bye."

_________________________________________
Chris

[happythoughts 0]

"I don't think the war of words is over" Can we say "stalling" ? Last time I was in court, someone said "Your honor, we basically agree, but we'd like to go through mediation. We have received a date for mediation 60 days from now". Nothing changed, we just waited 60 days to talk again, another 90 days to get a new court date to tell the judge that mediation didn't work. Keep stalling until everyone tires of dealing with it. Oldest strategy in the world.
"But we are a lot closer to a peaceful resolution to this than we were yesterday. " This is based on the theory that one exists. Iraq would want one why ? Recent history - Iraq/Iran conflict. Iraq/Kuwait conflict. In the Iraq/Kuwait conflict, who invaded who ? For Iraq, war is a national sport.

[seedy 0]

I agree with the stalling point of view. And I find it amazing that some people in this forum give the appearance of trusting Saddam more than they do their own government.
Disclaimer: this is not saying I totally trust my own government. But I do trust them a heck of a lot more than I do Saddam. Inspections? Didn't we go through this once?

I intend to live forever -- so far, so good.

[SBS 0]

Iraq today agreed to unconditional inspections of their country by UN arms inspectors.

----------------

Good news, but we'll see how long it lasts...


-S

_____________
I'm not conceited...I'm just realistic about my awesomeness...

[Muenkel 0]

Quote

And I find it amazing that some people in this forum give the appearance of trusting Saddam more than they do their own government.

Doesn't it kind of remind you of Alec Baldwin? All talk and no action. The pussy boy had a lot to say during the election, but guess what....he still lives in this country!

_________________________________________
Chris

[Shark 0]

September 17, 2002

Why Iraq Will Defeat Arms Inspectors

WASHINGTON - Many voices are now calling for renewed United Nations inspections in Iraq. Some belong to critics of the Bush administration who are opposed to war. Others belong to those who favor war but see inspections — which they fully expect to fail — as the needed triggering event for war. Still other Iraq experts believe that Saddam Hussein himself will invite the inspectors back as a means of forestalling invasion if troops begin to move in his direction.
Whatever one's stance on how best to handle Saddam Hussein, it is crucial to understand one thing: United Nations inspections, as they are currently constituted, will never work.
There are several reasons for this. Consider the record of the United Nations Special Commission, an agency that was charged with inspecting Iraq's weapons programs from 1991 to 1998. While Unscom did manage to destroy tons of missiles and chemical and biological weapons, it could not complete the job. Iraqi obfuscations prevented it from ever getting a full picture of the entire weapons production effort. The commission's replacement, the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, which has not yet been allowed to enter Iraq, will have even less success given its structure and policies.
Unscom was staffed mainly by officials on loan from national governments who did not owe their jobs to the United Nations; Unmovic personnel, on the other hand, are United Nations employees who are likely to be hobbled by the United Nations' notoriously inefficient bureaucracy.
These inspectors are not set up to make effective use of intelligence information. In the 1990's, American intelligence officials supplied secret information to selected Unscom inspectors, knowing that the information would be protected and be used to uncover hidden Iraqi weapons facilities. At Unmovic, however, no inspector will be allowed to receive intelligence information on a privileged basis, a policy that increases the risk of leaks to the Iraqis. Unmovic has also declared that it will not allow any information gathered from its inspections to flow back to national intelligence agencies. This eliminates the main incentive for intelligence sources to provide Unmovic with useful information in the first place.
Even if it is allowed into Iraq, Unmovic will run up against obstacles at least as formidable as those that stymied Unscom. After years of practice, Unscom became adept at launching surprise visits to weapons sites, yet Iraq's intelligence operatives defeated it more often than not. It was a rare inspection when the Iraqis did not know what the inspectors were looking for before they arrived. Most Unmovic inspectors have little experience in Iraq and even less in handling intelligence information.
Compounding this handicap is the fact that Iraq has taken considerable pains to make its weapons programs mobile. Laboratories, components and materials are ready to hit the road at a moment's notice. Once, as an experiment, Unscom had photos taken from a U2 spy plane of a site that it was about to inspect. First the photos showed no activity, then large numbers of Iraqi vehicles leaving the site, then no activity, then the inspectors' vehicles arriving.
Unmovic is also stuck with a deal the United Nations made in 1998 on "presidential sites." Iraq is allowed to designate vast swaths of land (big enough to contain entire factories) that the inspectors can visit only after announcing the visit in advance, disclosing the composition of the inspection team (nuclear or biological experts, for example) and taking along a special group of diplomats. This loophole creates refuges for mobile items and could defeat virtually any inspection effort.
New inspections will occur under the threat of imminent American military action. Any announcement that Iraq is not cooperating could be a casus belli. Such a risk might encourage Unmovic to monitor what is already known rather than aggressively try to find what is hidden. This could mean that the goal of inspections — the disarmament of Iraq — might never be achieved.

Which brings us to the heart of the matter. Inspections can only do one thing well: verify that a country's declarations about a weapons program are honest and complete. It is feasible for inspectors to look at sites and equipment to see whether the official story about their use is accurate. Inspectors can rely on scientific principles, intelligence information and surprise visits to known weapons production sites to test what they are told. It is a different proposition altogether to wander about a country looking for what has been deliberately concealed. That is a task with no end.
For inspectors to do their job, they have to have the truth, which can only come from the Iraqis. As President Bush told the United Nations last week, the world needs an Iraqi government that will stop lying and surrender the weapons programs. That is not likely to happen as long as Saddam Hussein remains in power.