One note on the December 16, 1998, BBC report: This is largely a matter of spin. Richard Butler's report claimed, in part, that Iraq was obstructing inspections (in fact, claiming that requested documents had already been turned over) and the decision to withdraw inspectors was entirely his; the BBC correspondent, Jeremy Cooke, reported that it appeared "the ground is being cleared for possible airstrikes by Britain and the United States"; Tariq Aziz claimed that Butler's report was full of lies and designed to justify military strikes on Baghdad.

UNSCOM, the United Nation's Special Commission on Iraq, has steadily revealed the true extent of Saddam Hussein's secret arsenal of mass destruction. But it has been frustrated at every turn.

It has produced evidence that Iraq continues to manufacture and hide chemical and biological weapons. This is the direct cause of the current crisis.

On several occasions Iraq has made a "full, final and complete disclosure" of its weapons programme, only for the UNSCOM experts to find something new...One such instance occurred in June this year when UN weapons inspectors discovered traces of the deadly VX nerve gas on Iraqi missile fragments.

The chief United Nations weapons inspector, Richard Butler, said the unambiguous results were serious because Iraq had always insisted it never weaponsied VX

Central to the dispute are the unannounced visits the inspectors make to suspected manufacturing and storage facilities.

Often these visits ended at the front gate - the Iraqis refused point-blank to allow the inspectors to see many installations including presidential palaces.

On other occasions the UNSCOM teams would be kept waiting at the front gate while trucks and equipment left by the back.

UNSCOM has used the latest technology, sensors and remote cameras to monitor many locations. But the Iraqis have regularly tampered with this equipment.