Shadow of
the Hegemon examines Powell’s speech to the U.N.:
The problem is the reaction to the evidence. The Bush administration continues to argue that
it means that war is the only option, whereas others interpret it as evidence that the inspection
regime needs to be beefed up. In some respects I think the spectacle of what was essentially a
strident American attack on the entire inspection process actually furthered this division; I
know that when I read the transcript, the question that kept on popping up in my mind was “why
wasn’t Blix and Co. made aware of these issues”, and the answer was that the Americans were
setting them up; deliberately standing aside and gathering what they’d need to produce the attempt
at a Adlai Stevenson moment that we saw today. I’m sure that Blix is spitting mad, for example;
the same satellite tracking information that was used by Powell today could have been given to
Blix weeks ago in order to give the inspectors an information edge that would have aided them in
finding what they were looking for. The fact that this didn’t happen says volumes about the American
attitude towards inspections throughout the entire process, and the mentality involved: a desire
not to disarm Iraq, but to justify the invasion.