-Caveat Lector- http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/front/RTGAM/20021001/wiraq10012/Front/homeBN/breakingnews
Tuesday, October 1 Four Canadians tapped for Iraq inspection team Canadian Press New York � Four Canadians have been placed on alert and told to prepare to head to Iraq as part of the United Nations weapons inspection team. They include two former military officers who are experts in chemical and biological weapons and two officials attached to the International Atomic Energy Agency who will be looking for signs that Saddam Hussein is working on nuclear weapons. See also: Divisions remain despite Bush's hopes for unity U.S. planes strike Basra airport The four were not identified by name, for security reasons. Mr. Hussein's representatives struck an accord with the UN on Tuesday to allow inspectors to return to Iraq for the first time in four years. But the Iraqis did not yield to growing pressure from the United States and Britain to open Mr. Hussein's palaces and other so-called presidential sites to surprise inspections, which were banned under an agreement negotiated between Iraq and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 1998. The Canadians would be part of a team UN weapons inspectors returning to Baghdad for the cat-and-mouse game of hunting Mr. Hussein's caches of nuclear, biological or chemical weapons. "One of the Canadians is likely to go as part of the advance team, but it is unlikely that all would go," said a Canadian diplomat familiar with the composition of the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Committee (UNMOVIC). Two Canadians from the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency that will take part in inspections have expertise in the use of uranium for nuclear weapons as well as nuclear imagery. A fifth is completing the training that will allow him to take part in the verification process. About 5 per cent of the inspectors who went through Iraq between 1991 and 1998 were Canadians. "Canadians had a very high reputation," said Ronald Cleminson, who took part in two inspection missions in Iraq during those years. "What they did, they did well." Mr. Cleminson was an adviser to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan during the assembling of UNMOVIC. He expects it will take about six weeks for inspections to begin in Iraq. There should be no need for heavily armed escorts, he said. Personal security or safety shouldn't be an issue. "You do not have spontaneous riots in Iraq," Mr. Cleminson said in a telephone interview from Ottawa. "This is a police state. You don't break a window without Saddam saying so." After ensuring their hotel is properly secured and free of listening devices, the inspectors' first order of business will be determining what Mr. Hussein's weapons of mass production program has achieved while free of international scrutiny over the past four years. After the preliminary team arrives � sometime around Oct. 15 � further squads of inspectors will fan out across the country. However, the U.S. administration may ultimately prevent inspectors from heading to Iraq. Initial reaction from the White House to the announcement of an accord on resumed weapons inspections suggested the United States may thwart the UN from sending the inspectors unless the Security Council passes a resolution that backs the use of force to oust Mr. Hussein if he fails to comply with unfettered inspections. President George W. Bush demanded that the United Nations "put some calcium in the backbone" as it works up its own resolution on disarming Baghdad. Mr. Bush's spokesman said costly military action could be cleanly and simply averted with Mr. Hussein's exile or assassination. "The cost of one bullet if the Iraqi people take it on themselves" would be both preferable and cheaper, Ari Fleischer told reporters. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
