Former inspector Scott Ritter believes that one of the reasons Saddam was so intent on stopping the inspections was the fact that the US intelligence agencies kept trying to use the UN inspection teams as a means to further the US’s intelligence and foreign policy goals (inserting spies and conducting espionage intended not to determine the presence/absence of WMDs but to overthrow Hussein).
That’s the May 2004 roadside bomb you’re thinking about. It wasn’t successfully deployed-- it was detonated in a controlled explosion. According to the Defense Department, it appears likely that the people who assembled it believed the CW shell to be a conventional explosive shell after recovering it from a dump, test range, or some such. (The shell was so corroded that any markings identifying it as CW ordnance were obliterated.) Two bomb disposal folks received slight injury – mild respiratory symptoms from the traces of gas they were exposed to when the device was detonated.
Sort of, but it was to keep enemies at bay and retain power, not play with the UN.
It’s also worth pointing out that, right up to the start of the 2003 Iraq war, Saddam wasn’t “playing games” with the UN inspectors – the inspection teams would wake up one morning, pick a random target to go to, drive there, knock on the door, then got access to the place and looked around. The UN even got tips from the US on where they believed WMDs were hidden, but found nothing when they actually checked out the sites.
The claims that Saddam was giving UN inspectors the runaround appear to be so much exaggeration from the Bush Administration, who were using the claims as an excuse to sell the war.
Well, yes he was for some ten years- he first played games with them, then he kicked them out. Finally, yes, with US forces massing on his borders and a clear threat from the USA- Saddam did let the UN Inspectors in, and they were pretty much free- excpet for the “palaces” if I remember right.
…after being throughly awkward with them, once he’d discovered the presence of CIA agents.
(Not a conspiracy theory - it’s been admitted by the UN, the US and the inspectors.)
That’s probably it, thanks.
But back to the aircraft, were they flown to Iran for safekeeping, to return to Iraq after the war? Or were the pilots fleeing for their lives. Did Iran say they’d be returned and reneged on the deal?
I can’t see any Iraqi’s flying into Iran without getting shot down 
Iran was officially a neutral nation during Desert Storm. In international law, troops, vessels, and equipment of a belligerent nation that attempt to take refuge in a neutral country must be interned by the neutral for the duration of the hostilities. The neutral is expected to return them when hostilities are concluded. Compliance with these responsibilities and expectations is not always 100%
The Battle of the River Platte is a famous example where these rules came into play during WWII.
That’s the Battle of the River Plate. There were no significant engagements between german and british naval forces in Nebraska or Colorado during WWII.
The UNSCOM inspectors weren’t kicked out in 1998, they left of their own accord. Saddam was denouncing them and making life difficult, but that was at least partly because members of UNSCOM had been passing information to US intelligence.
Forgot the cite (approx half way down).
I’ll need a cite for this; IIRC, the inspectors paid several surprise visits to some of Saddam’s palaces, and aside from some minor bureaucratic paper-checks at the gates, had unrestricted access to them.
I distinctively remember following the inspectors’ progress in the news, then hearing Bush mangle the day’s events for his own ends…
Let one little extra character slip in…
(PS: You should have capitalized “German” and “British”. Gaudere’s Law strikes again) 
It was a poorly constructed sentence too.
:o
Thanks Diceman for the additional clarification about the suspiciously copious amounts of pesticide chemicals found. It does seem odd, the enormous quantities discovered, at numerous sites, and that they were found in carefully concealed bunkers, right alongside munitions equipment suitable for dispersal and handy chemical weapon suits for protection.
I think Saddam said that the pesticides were for agricultural use. You can probably count the number of people who believed this on your fingers, since (A) we’re talking about f***ing Iraq, not Kansas, and (B) why would the military be storing chemicals intended for civilian use? Iraq’s not a communist state. Whatever farmers exist there can get their own pesicides.
By the way there are plans to refloat the Graf Spee, a team has already rescued the telemeter tower and a piece of artiullery; but I haven´t heard any news about that lately.
As a related note the remains of the HMS Agammenon that sunk in Punta del Este are being studied and a cannon has been rescued from the wreck making it the only existing cannon that is known to have fired in the battle of Trafalgar.
It’s worth noting that “Saddam had programs to develop WMDs” isn’t much more than “wishful thinking.” Saddam certainly didn’t have any equipment or materials or knowledge which was banned by any of the UN resolutions.
Is it justified to arrest someone for merely thinking about committing a robbery?
no but one can arrest them for planning it. I beleive it is called conspiracy.
Of course whether one would invade a country…