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...blackmail from Baghdad that it is currently forced to swallow from Pyongyang. A compelling argument, indeed, if it could be shown that Iraq is in danger of going nuclear. But the nuclear dimension is the weakest element of the weapons-of-mass destruction indictment against Baghdad: While the UN inspectors concur with Washington's contention that Iraq has failed to account for substantial stocks of chemical and biological weapons, they have taken issue with U.S. claims about an Iraqi nuclear program. IAEA chief Dr. Mohammed al Baradei has sent his teams to inspect all the facilities identified...
...their best to dissuade Washington, but if President Bush's mind is made up then cooperation with the U.S. war effort becomes the most effective path to protect their interests in a post-Saddam Iraq. In which case Secretary Powell's presentation, especially if it leads to a second UN Security Council resolution, may even help provide the political cover for European and Arab leaders to make a choice deeply unpopular among their citizens...
Secretary of State Colin Powell's hour-long indictment of Iraq Wednesday has not changed the political dynamic at the UN Security Council for a simple reason: While most members may be inclined to accept at least a significant proportion of the evidence offered in Powell's vivid multimedia presentation, they don't share the conclusion that Iraq represents a sufficient danger to its neighbors or the West to justify the risks of war. But if Powell's allegations of Iraq's systematic efforts to deceive and evade the inspection and disarmament process are born out by chief weapons inspector...
...Powell's presentation began with U.S. evidence purporting to show Iraq systematically evading and deceiving UN inspectors. Then he restated for the record the known and chilling inventory of Iraq's unaccounted-for stocks of biological and chemical weapons, presented allegations by defectors of continuing programs and offered a circumstantial argument pointing to a clandestine nuclear program. Finally, he tried to make a case that such weapons programs represent an imminent threat to the West on the basis of an alleged link between Iraq and al-Qaeda...
...intelligence. And his message will certainly resonate with American audiences, a large proportion of whom were inclined to believe immediately after September 11 that Saddam Hussein had a hand in the attacks. The case may have been less convincing for the Europeans, who are more inclined to share the UN inspectors' skepticism over claims of an Iraqi nuclear program - and even more importantly, to share the doubts of many in the U.S. intelligence community over an Iraq-al Qaeda link - and the evidence offered by Powell probably wasn't strong enough to alter their skepticism...