The Vanguardia's take on the Iraq situation is that the inspectors' report was "ambivalent". They didn't say that they'd found any weapons of mass destruction yet, but that they certainly weren't ruling out that Saddam may have some. The inspectors complained about lack of "full and sincere" cooperation on the part of Saddam, and they suspect that Saddam is hiding important quantities of chemical and biological weapons. Hans Blix asked specifically about what happened to massive amounts of VX nerve gas, mustard gas, and anthrax, which Iraq definitely had in the nineties and has not accounted for, much less in their 12,000-page declaration on the weapons in their possession; Blix called the pile of documents the Iraqis gave him "recycling". That is, garbage. Blix also suspects that the 16 warheads adapted for chemical weapons that were found may be "the tip of the iceberg". Blix says that he believes that the Iraqis are attempting to hide information from him. However, he asked for more time to continue inspecting.

We think the United States should just say No. (Not to drugs. I'm saying No to saying No to drugs. To further inspections.) First, this was supposed to be Saddam's last chance to come clean. He was supposed to be totally forthcoming with all the information he had and to directly answer all the inspectors' questions while letting them go wherever they wanted. He hasn't been. He is clearly trying to hide something. That right there is a breach of the UN resolution by Saddam. Second and most important, the UN inspections have been merely a distraction. They have not addressed the real point, which is this: In the wake of 9-11, the United States has decided that further terrorist massacres are not going to happen again. The United States suspects that Saddam's government, based on its more than twenty-year record of international criminality, may be working towards another such massacre. Therefore, the United States has decided to get rid of Saddam Hussein, and I am sure that Saddam Hussein is merely the first name on the list. All the UN blah-blah and mumbo-jumbo is merely window-dressing, aimed at tranquilizing those consciences that haven't gotten it through their heads yet that the war is already on and it was Saddam who declared it.

Interestingly, Ari Fleischer contrasted Saddam's obstructive behavior with that of Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and South Africa when they denuclearized for real. Those countries would have been more than thrilled to show UN inspectors their own secret porno collections should the inspectors have requested it. They'd have submitted to the international equivalent of proctology. They said, "Please, please, come inspect us! Ooh, ooh, inspect us some more, don't stop now! Oh my God......" Levity aside, they were serious about what they were doing. Saddam obviously is not.

I wonder what Bush is going to say about the State of the Union. I bet he lets loose at least one of the cards he has up his sleeve, probably one which will prove that Saddam really does have weapons of mass destruction and we can prove it beyond a doubt. If that happens, the French and Germans will have one more chance to get on board when Bush asks for a second Security Council resolution for appearances' sake in the first week of February. If France vetoes it or Germany votes "No", that's their business, and they will face the diplomatic consequences, but that's not to be worried about at this point. The Allies are likely to act soon after the passage (or failure) of the resolution. If they act after a No resolution, the United Nations will be fatally wounded--well, really, it'll just be the coup de grace for the UN, which has proved itself to be little more useful than the League of Nations. Lots of "ifs" here, I know.

By the way, Bush called up Aznar on the phone again, something Aznar is always ready to make public; Fleischer called Spain "a close ally whose counsel is much valued in the current circumstances." Fleischer congratulated Spain on the recent Al Qaeda bust. In case you were wondering, all sixteen of the arrested still in custody have been bound over for trial and are sitting in a lovely Spanish prison. Let's hope they don't put these guys in Can Brians, our local jail that's about as hard to break out of as a chicken farm with no chicken wire.