Revolutionary Moderation

What to believe?



I referenced back here a report which suggested that Iraq may have some mustard gas, but little else. Now, CBS news is reporting that UN weapons inspectors are becoming increasingly disillusioned with American "tips" which are leading to nothing.



Is it entirely possible that Iraq actually doesn't have any significant WMD? Now, if I was Iraq, and I had a whole bunch of American soldiers building up on the border, I'd probably want WMD to defend myself. This is doubly true when the American government won't rule out the use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states. That's the whole proliferation effect in a nutshell, and the reason why treaty commitments are a more effective way to disarm rouge states. But, having said all that, perhaps the real question is why do we continue to threaten when Iraq is already in compliance with UN requirements? Could constructive engagement be the way to bring Iraq back into the community of nations to the point where Iraq actually believes it doesn't need a nuclear weapon, or Anthrax, or whatnot?



I actually think so. Perhaps I'm naive, but this hasn't even been tried since Gulf War One, and now seems to be the time. Perhaps we can come to some sort of arrangement where the US is allowed to keep talking trash and not dealing with Iraq, but the rest of the world just goes on with their lives. Kinda like the US relationship with Cuba. It's gotta be better than this.