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LEAD-IN BY HOST: United Nations Chief Weapons Inspector, Hans Blix, reported to the Security Council this week that Iraq must do more to comply with inspections aimed at the disarmament of their weapons of mass destruction program. International Reactions were divided along interest lines - the United States and Britain maintain that Saddam Hussein still has weapons of mass destruction without providing evidence of their assertions. While other key players in the U.N. Security Council like Russia, France and Germany remain adamant that the U.N. weapons inspectors must be given the allotted time to complete their work. Even after President Bush's state of the union address last night where he itemized liters of unreported biological agents, the burden of proof is still for the inspections team to discover. Jackson Allers reports with a local take on the issue:
STORY: Hans Blix criticized Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein earlier this week for what he described as not fully cooperating with inspectors during the first sixty days of this renewed round of weapons inspections. Reactions were predictable as both Washington and London - who have already sent a combined 170,000 troops to the region - say Iraq is continuing to hide weapons of mass destruction. Hans Blix says the UN weapons inspectors need more time in order to conduct a thorough search: "As to the assessment of the declaration, we are consistent in the view that there has been relatively little given the declaration by way of the evidence concerning the programs of weapons of mass destruction. There's been some material concerning the period between 1998 and 2002 in the non-nuclear weapon field. We will evidently continue the analysis and the council is clear that it wants us to come back sometime January ... [with a more detailed analysis than what was given this far.]" The U.N. Security Council was briefed on Monday by U.N. weapons inspectors. Today they met behind closed doors to continue their discussions on the situation in Iraq. Mohamed El-Baradei, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), noted that the chemical and biological file needed to be making equal progress with the nuclear inspections or the Iraqi issue would not move forward. But analysts of the Bush Administration's attempts to hold Iraq to task for quote weapons of mass destruction - say something else is at play: "Washington we know is trying to have a war. It has been evident ever since the summer. The reasons for this even are quite evidently not connected to weapons of mass destruction." James Paul is the Executive Director of the Global Policy Forum, a non-governmental organization that looks at policy making at the U.N. "It's an oil driven war. Now I know that a number of oil companies are based in Texas therefore there are individuals, I don't know about the people of Texas as a whole, but there certainly would be oil executives and people who own shares in oil companies and this kind of thing that would benefit sometime down the road." Some in Texas may not agree with this assessment, but they are keen to point out the role of the United Nations in this decision process. Political Science Professor at the University of Houston, Raymond Duchs, is supportive of the U.S. military Campaign into Iraq. He says that Iraq has been given 12 years to disarm. And time is up: "I don't think the United Nations is going to, Blix or anyone else, are going to come out and say 'that all of the indicators suggest that you want to go to war, Mr. President.' I mean, I think the nature of the United Nations is that they are going to try to provide a pretty balanced assessment of what's going on there. I think that's exactly what Blix did. He's not there to basically provide a justification for the United States to take action." While the United States and British debate the urgency of a show of military force, in Houston Vietnam vet John Sufatello says that diplomacy is still needed: "So I think it's kind of like walking on eggshells, if you will... My hopes are that whatever happens goes with the, if you will, good wishes of the United Nations. ... Well my thoughts are I think it's inevitable but it bodes well for the President to give the inspectors a little more time just to make sure that all the possible stones are looked behind." Meanwhile, thousands of people in more than 100 cities are taking to the streets this evening to demonstrate their opposition to Bush's Plan for War. Jackson Allers, KPFT News, Houston.
E-mail Jackson Allers at jacksonallers@hotmail.com .
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