Tuesday, November 26, 2002

More good advice: Saletan follows up (see this earlier piece on how to keep Saddam in line) with a list of excuses Saddam will use to flout the new resolution. Again, he's spot-on. I think the UN will be unlikely to avoid falling for at least one of the tricks Saletan names. Especially this one:
2. We're bound by the resolution's principles, not its rules. The resolution opens with nods to "international peace and security" and "the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq." It then lays down specific demands. The principles are easier to fudge and exploit than the demands are, so Iraq says it will follow the former rather than the latter. The demands stated in the resolution's fourth paragraph don't serve "the declared goals of the Security Council," according to the letter, and the demands stated in the fifth and seventh paragraphs could be used for "purposes not related to the declared aims of the council's resolutions." Furthermore, says the letter, the resolution imposes "obligations" on the United Nations, including "respecting Iraq's sovereignty and security, and respecting its national interests."
This will keep the Security Council chasing its tail, at least until the window for war has passed for this year.

No comments: