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War and Terror: Inspectors should not flee Iraq for US to attack
Posted on Friday, March 14 @ 10:38:45 UTC
Topic: United Nations
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 A Decent Proposal Hans Blix Conscience Should Now Allow Him To Refuse
by Ben Roberts
In this climate of impending war in Iraq everyone is offering proposals that range
from the ridiculous to the sublime. British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the Dossier
for Dummies guy, is offering a proposal demanding more interviews with Iraqi
scientists outside of Iraq. Non compliance with his proposal would give clearance
for military action. The United States is offering a proposal to delay an attack
deadline to March 17 when Hans Blix submits a report, but insists that a month
delay is, in Ari Fleischer's words, 'a non starter.' Various leaders of Gulf states,
who preside over repressive and non democratic monarchies are proposing that
Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, abandon Iraq and seek refuge in another country.
If these wild eyed proposals can be put forward as reasonable and credible, then
I feel qualified to join the mad fray and offer a proposal of my own. Here it is:
To date Iraq has taken the unusual action of complying with Hans Blix and his
UNMOVIC agency requirement that he destroy its Al Samoud ll missiles. This
missile is the centerpiece of any Iraqi defense in repelling an invasion by
American forces. It is almost suicidal for Iraq to have destroyed roughly a quarter
of these weapons to date when a superpower, armed to the teeth, is amassed
just outside its borders geared to attack. Destruction of this weapon is without
question dangerous for Iraq, guaranteed to ensure a bloodbath on its citizens by
American forces. All US military planners have to do is sit back, wait until the
Iraqis comply with Blix by totally destroying this deterrent, then launch an attack.
This would be an international outrage, with the blood of Iraqis on the hands of
the UN, UNMOVIC, and Hans Blix. My proposal is that Hans Blix and his agency
guarantee the Iraqis that, when the US orders the UN to vacate Iraq so that it
can commence its bloodletting unseen, he and his inspectors will not flee Iraq
like rats abandoning a sinking ship. Instead they will defy any such order, and
continue investigating, with cameras rolling to collect data on Iraq, as well as on
US military activity. Remember videocameras are great deterrents to violent
activity that prefers to remain hidden. Just ask the LAPD and Rodney King.
Implementing such a proposal will be a boon to the UN, and do the contrary of
what George Bush has unceasingly accused the agency of becoming. Instead of
becoming irrelevant and obsolete, such a stance would empower the UN like no
other action in decades. For the last fifty plus years the US has systematically
strangled and weakened the UN in its mission of peace, harmony, and the rule of
law. Just one look at the almost never ending list of UN resolutions passed on
illegal Israeli activity, and the resultant US vetoes of such resolutions would leave
no doubt about this.
Just recently, after the Jenin massacre by the Israeli army,
Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary General, organized a panel to investigate the
facts. Israel barred entry by the UN. The US promptly upheld their action, as they
have numerous others. How can the US now selectively accuse the United
Nations of not discharging its duty in the case of Iraq, when in truth they are
executing in a most exemplary manner in this instance?
Now is the time for them to go even further. George Bush, following American
law, may order a person to leave the United States, but he cannot order anyone,
most especially UN officials, to vacate Iraq. They have an international mission
that supersedes US demands. Moreover, and most people are unaware of this,
UNMOVIC is funded by Iraq. Yes, the Iraqi Oil for Food Program, administered
by the UN, pays the costs of UNMOVIC inspections. Almost laughable, isn't it,
that Iraq is paying the cost of being investigated? Be that as it may, and for these
reasons, the UN has absolutely no requirement to comply with US demands that
this body facilitate their attack on another country. Such a defiant stance by the
UN would result in a kaleidoscopic nightmare for the United States. A public
relations nightmare. A legal nightmare as regards international law, and a moral
nightmare in the eyes of the world. It would effectively bar any attack by US
forces on the peoples of Iraq. Such a stance would rejuvenate and empower the
UN to conduct its mandate as the world citizens expect it to, making it not
irrelevant, but rather empowering it. A necessary and desired direction for this
body, given the dangerous and uncertain world we live in today.
Ben Roberts is a newsletter editor, freelance writer and published author. His book, Jackals of Samarra, was published in January 2001. Ben can be contacted by email at: grandt730@aol.com
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