amlord: Sorry, I'm not wrong. Small point of information: in my post I refer to the inspectors having been withdrawn in December 1998 - after which they did not return for four years. You rebut that by referring to the brief expulsion (and eventual return) of inspectors from the previous year??? Rupert Murdoch could use a man like you!

What you said in your post which was untrue - categorically untrue - was this: "When Iraq expelled the inspectors, the UN did nothing for 4 years and now here we are." Actually, when Iraq expelled the inspectors, they were back within a matter of weeks - inspecting. It was when Butler withdrew the inspectors at the prompting of the US and without the approval of the Security Council that they did not return for four years. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you are merely mistaken or confused rather than intentionally re-writing history for propagandistic purposes as our administration and "liberal media" have been doing.

This does go rather dirctly to the topic at hand. When a tinpot dictator like Hussein tosses out inspectors, the world gets together and pushes on with the inspections regardless. When the US tosses out the inspectors, the world knows that it had better stand aside or suffer the consequences.