THE LIGHT DAWNS:

US hardline on Iraq leaves full-scale invasion a 'hair-trigger' away (Julian Borger in Washington, Ewen MacAskill, and Ian Black in Brussels, October 3, 2002, The Guardian)

Washington last night revealed its intention to use UN weapons inspections as a possible first step towards a military occupation of Iraq by sending in troops, sealing off "exclusion zones" and creating secure corridors throughout the country.

In a leaked proposal for a UN resolution drafted by the US with help from British officials, the Bush administration is seeking to transform the inspections process into a coercive operation. The resolution would place a full-scale invasion of Iraq on a hair trigger, authorising UN member states "to use all necessary means to restore international peace and security" if Iraq does so much as make an omission in the weapons inventories it presents to the security council.

Weapons inspectors would operate out of bases inside Iraq, where they would be under the protection of UN troops. UN forces or the forces of a member state would enforce no-fly and no-drive zones around a suspected weapons site, preventing anything being removed before inspection.

Diplomats at the UN said there was no doubt that US troops would play a leading role in any such enforcement, allowing the Pentagon to deploy forces inside Iraq even before hostilities got under way. [...]

Resolution main points:

* The US (as a permanent member of the UN security council) can ask to be present in any inspection team and thus gain access to any part of the country

* The inspectors can set up bases throughout the country. They will be accompanied at those bases by soldiers under the UN banner sufficient to protect them

* The UN will have the right to declare no-fly, no-drive and exclusion zones, ground and air transit corridors, to be enforced either by the UN or by member states which could include the US

* Iraq must agree to free and unrestricted landing of aircraft, including unmanned spy planes

* The UN can take anyone it wishes to interview out of Iraq, along with his or her family

* Any false information provided by Iraq or any failure to comply with the resolution would automatically entitle member states to use all necessary means to restore international peace

Man, these people are slow on the uptake. If you listened to George W. Bush's speech at the UN or his speech to America last Monday night, he left no doubt that the "peaceful" option involves either Saddam stepping down on his own or our using the UN inspections regime to get rid of him. Iraq can't be both in compliance with UN resolutions and governed by the Baath Party--it's that simple. Posted by Orrin Judd at October 13, 2002 9:14 PM