Iraq Fails to Provide Escorts for U.N. Inspection Team for Second Day

Iraq's intransigence and refusal to cooperate with the United Nations' Special Commission and Security Council has led to another standoff, as an American-led U.N. team, led by Scott Ritter, faced another day of being unable to proceed with its inspection due to a lack of required escorts. This move comes after a similar incident on Tuesday, where Ritter's team was blocked from proceeding due to Iraqi officials' failure to show up. The crisis highlights the growing tensions between Iraq and the international community, particularly the United States, as the U.N. attempts to verify Iraq's compliance with resolutions aimed at eliminating its weapons of mass destruction.

Key Takeaways:

• Iraq has failed to provide escorts for U.N. inspection teams for the second day in a row, hindering the teams' ability to carry out their duties.
• The move is a repeat of last year's crisis, where American inspectors were eventually thrown out of Iraq, and arms inspections were halted for three weeks.
• The U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Bill Richardson, stated that patience is running out in Security Council capitals and that Iraq is pushing the crisis to the brink.
• The U.N. Security Council, meeting for two hours on Tuesday, failed to agree on a joint statement but plans to meet again to try to resolve the impasse.
• U.N. Security Council members have agreed to give unanimous support to Richard Butler, who is set to travel to Baghdad to try to resolve the crisis.
• Iraq has accused the U.S. and Britain of misusing inspectors to mislead the Security Council and international opinion about the facts in Iraq.

Statistics:

• The U.N. team, led by Scott Ritter, consists of 15 inspectors from the U.S., Britain, Russia, Australia, and other countries.
• 14 out of the 5 permanent Security Council members' nationals were part of Ritter's team.