U.N. inspections of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs resumed in November 2002 after a 4-year hiatus. U.N. Security Council Resolution 1441 granted Iraq a final chance to disarm. Given Iraq's history of thwarting WMD inspections, many have low expectations for the success of inspections. This report, which will be updated, analyzes the challenges and opportunities of inspections in light of new U.N. Security Council authorities and Congress's authorization to use U.S. force against Iraq (P.L. 107-243). The success of these inspections will have a direct impact on whether U.S. military force is used to eliminate the threat of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. On the plus side, new inspections have strengthened authorities under the new U.N. resolution, including unimpeded access to all sites and interviewing Iraqi officials privately, and they utilize new technologies. There is also a better relationship between U.N. Monitoring, Verification, and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) than there was between its predecessor and the IAEA. Inspections, rather than military strikes, could encourage defectors to provide critical information and might facilitate uncovering links between WMD and terrorism. Inspections conducted under the threat of military strikes have likely increased the pressure on Iraq to comply. On the negative side, inspectors face new practical, technical, and political challenges. New regulations for sharing intelligence and inspector recruitment may hinder inspections and Iraq has had four years to potentially hide weapons activities in dual-use facilities. The threat of war could increase pressure on inspectors to produce some definitive knowledge and could potentially politicize their investigations.

From late November 2002 to March 2003, U.N. inspectors combed Iraq looking for weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Under the threat of war from the United States and a unanimous Security Council resolution (1441), Iraq was granted a final opportunity to disarm. Many had low expectations for successful inspections. After 16 weeks, inspectors turned up some evidence of undeclared activities, but not enough to convince a majority of the Security Council members that military force was necessary. Nonetheless, on March 19, 2003, U.S. and British forces attacked Iraq to forcibly eliminate its WMD. Ultimately, judging Iraq's compliance may have relied less on thresholds of evidence than on assumptions about the effectiveness and utility of inspections at that point in time.

The war against Iraq divided opinion throughout the world and generated a maelstrom of spin and counterspin. The man at the eye of the storm, and arguably the only key player to emerge from it with his integrity intact, was Hans Blix, head of the UN weapons inspection team. This is Dr. Blix’s account of what really happened during the months leading up to the declaration of war in March 2003. In riveting descriptions of his meetings with Tony Blair, Jacques Chirac, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, and Kofi Annan, he conveys the frustrations, the tensions, the pressure and the drama as the clock ticked toward the fateful hour. In the process, he asks the vital questions about the war: Was it inevitable? Why couldn’t the U.S. and UK get the backing of the other member states of the UN Security Council? Did Iraq have weapons of mass destruction? What does the situation in Iraq teach us about the propriety and efficacy of policies of preemptive attack and unilateral action? Free of the agendas of politicians and ideologues, Blix is the plainspoken, measured voice of reason in the cacophony of debate about Iraq. His assessment of what happened is invaluable in trying to understand both what brought us to the present state of affairs and what we can learn as we try to move toward peace and security in the world after Iraq.

Discusses the first Gulf War, the weapons inspections, and the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, all in an effort to protect the region and the world from weapons of mass destruction.

From late November 2002 to March 2003, U.N. inspectors combed Iraq looking for weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Under the threat of war from the United States and a unanimous Security Council resolution (1441), Iraq was granted a final opportunity to disarm. Many had low expectations for successful inspections. After 16 weeks, inspectors turned up some evidence of undeclared activities, but not enough to convince a majority of the Security Council members that military force was necessary. Nonetheless, on March 19, 2003, U.S. and British forces attacked Iraq to forcibly eliminate its WMD. Ultimately, judging Iraq's compliance may have relied less on thresholds of evidence than on assumptions about the effectiveness and utility of inspections at that point in time.

"The Greatest Threat is the ""brutally candid"" inside story of the West's failure to stop Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein from building weapons of mass destruction (Booklist)."