Russia says U.N. inspectors must return to Iraq

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L05646450.htm

MOSCOW, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Russia, a staunch opponent of the U.S.-led war in Iraq, said on Wednesday international inspectors must be allowed to hunt for the banned weapons Washington cited as the key reason to depose Saddam Hussein.

The call echoed comments by Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), whose inspectors found no evidence of illegal weapons in Iraq before U.S.-led forces invaded the oil-rich country.

U.N. Inspectors, who were pulled out on the eve of the invasion in March, have not been admitted to Iraq since.

"The question of Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) cannot finally be closed, while UNMOVIC (monitoring agency) and the IAEA have not reported, as is required in Security Council resolutions, that WMD and the means of their delivery are absent," a foreign ministry statement said.

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[leftchick]

1. given Russia's "preemptive force" statement from yesterday.....

conjures up a pretty frightening scenario if chimpass* ignores it!

[belab13]

2. the irony of this role reversal should not be lost on those in the know.

The Russians are taking the bull by the horns (pardon the expression) and the rest of the world needs to follow suit.

[pink_poodle]

3. This is it I think. Is this the call to shift the power in the world? ...

Is this where the US and Israel stand on one side of the fence and the rest of the world shifts it's weight for once and for all? If push comes to shove, the UK people will go with what Europe does and I can see that Europe is sick of the USA too. You can just feel the people backing away from the US..........

[ILeft]

4. The Bush Regime set it in motion and I doubt it can be stopped

George W.Bush has led the USA to the brink of self-destruction. My country is becoming a noxious, sputtering, malicious, tumour on the world body. The Bush Regime has given the rest of the World a choice: submit or be forced into submission. The rest of the World isn't going to limit its options to those two choices...

I agree that the power is shifting, though there might still be some hope. If the treasonous thugs that make up the Bush Regime remain in power after the 2004 elections, I see absolutely no hope for the survival of this Nation. It might already be dead--