PARAGRAPH FIVE PAYS OFF: Way back on November 9th, we mentioned “the seldom discussed Paragraph Five of our resolution regarding Iraq”, and linked to this post by Bryan Preston, who wrote:
there is some quiet self-satisfaction among the Brits and Americans that paragraph 5 — the silver bullet — went through with little fuss. This says the inspectors must have “immediate, unimpeded, unrestricted and private access to all officials and other persons” and that the inspectors “may at their discretion conduct interviews inside or outside of Iraq, may facilitate the travel of those interviewed and family members outside Iraq.” This means an open ticket to the West for all the best brains in Iraqi who would like to leave. It is also the guarantee that Iraq can be declared in material breach if access to any designated scientist, technician, official or civilian is denied. And the CIA and Britain’s SIS have drawn up a very long list.
Check out the first two paragraphs of this AP article:
As Iraq awaits a key report by chief U.N. arms inspectors, a senior Iraqi official says Baghdad is still unable to meet a key U.N. demand
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