The gun in Iraq is at least simmering

Published 12:00 am Thursday, February 6, 2003

Tribune Staff

On Wednesday, Secretary of State Colin Powell made the best case the United States has made against Iraq, so far. However, the evidence he presented to the U.N. Security Council was not enough to convince all of his colleagues that the country and its dictator, Saddam Hussein, have defied all demands to disarm and that force is necessary.

As the world has been waiting for Americans to produce a "smoking gun," the gun Powell pointed to Wednesday was, at the least, a simmering one.

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Powell used satellite photos to show before and after shots of suspected chemical weapons facilities that had disappeared and played recordings of intercepted conversations between Iraqi military officials to make his points. One was an apparent discussion between two officers about hiding prohibited vehicles and another dealt with removing reference to nerve agents from written instructions.

The presentation did not have the irrefutable visual evidence we would have liked to have seen, but it did build a stronger case of the U.S. viewpoint that Iraq is attempting to deceive U.N. weapons inspectors. We feel it swayed some people on the fence to the U.S. viewpoint.

Immediately after Powell's presentation, China and Russia, which have the power to veto council resolutions, said the weapons inspections should continue. France, which also has veto power, proposed strengthening weapons inspections, saying force must be a last resort. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw of Great Britain, the fifth permanent member of the council, said Powell had made a ''most powerful'' case and that Saddam is ''gambling that (the U.N.) will lose our nerve rather than enforce our will.''

While war should be a last resort, being complacent is not an option. At the least, weapons inspectors need to be more aggressive and the U.N. can no longer take "no" for an answer, including Iraq's refusal to allow flyovers from spy planes, as the U.S. is seeking.

Iraq's simmering gun should no longer be tolerated.