CENTRAL VIEW for Monday, February 3, 2003

The Axis of Weasels

Gulf War II is not inevitable. All Saddam has to do is lay out his weapons of mass destruction, show them to the UN inspectors and let them watch while his troops destroy them. That is what UN Resolution 1441 says Saddam must do. But if you think Saddam is going to do that, I have this bridge across the East River between Brooklyn and Manhattan You can buy it for almost nothing.

On February 5, 2003, U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell, will provide the UN additional evidence of Saddam’s failure to comply with UN Resolution 1441. Secretary Powell must walk a tight rope between providing enough information to be convincing and too much information that could compromise our intelligence methods and sources. What he reveals could also endanger our agents and troops in the field.

Chemical weapons are the cheapest, easiest to produce, easiest to transport, easiest to hide and easiest to deliver weapons of mass of destruction. That is why Saddam Hussein produced thousand of tons of chemical weapons of which at least 6,500 tons are unaccounted for. Their effect upon unprotected troops is horrific. So much so, every civilized nation has agreed not to use them in land warfare. Saddam, of course, is uncivilized, won’t sign such an agreement, and wouldn’t keep it if he did.

If Secretary Powell reveals the locations of these highly portable chemical weapons, Saddam will promptly have his chemical weapons moved to new locations. When that happens, we then must either delay our attack until Saddam’s chemical weapons can be found again and neutralized or we attack without knowing their locations and run the risk of terrible casualties. So, once again, we find ourselves with a Hobson’s Choice engineered by those who demand overwhelming evidence of Saddam’s failure to comply with UN Resolution 1441, but who are really only after partisan advantage in 2004.

Constitutionally, our Commander-in-Chief’s first duty is national defense. In this case, to deal with the Axis of Evil. But he also has to deal with the Axis of Weasels that runs from Paris to Berlin and through the liberal, anti-Bush media and the left wing of the minority party in the U.S. Congress.

Of all the weasels, the French and the Germans are the most understandable. The French have had a lot weasel practice. They usually surrender before the first shot is fired. The Germans, whose country we helped rebuild despite their aggression in two world wars in the 20th Century, really do not want us to discover how much oil business and other illegal trading they have been doing with Saddam. The same goes for some big French automakers and oil importers.

When we are on the verge of victory in Iraq, the French will jump on board. They will be hoping to shred Saddam’s business records before we find them. They will want to make darn sure they get their share of oil at $20 dollars-per-barrel. Maybe Poland, Hungary, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Denmark, the Czech Republic and the UK -- all of whom know a dictator when they see one -- can shame the Germans into doing their duty.

The despots who run Saddam’s neighboring nations want Saddam to take the money and run to some African place of exile because they know an American occupation of Iraqi, however brief, will light the spark of liberty among the oppressed peoples of the Middle East. How ya gonna to keep ‘em down on the oasis after they get their rightful share of the oil revenues?

But, when allied troops enforce UN Resolution 1441 and lay out Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction for the entire world to see, will the Hollywood Left and the liberal media and the “loyal” opposition say, “Ah shucks, we were wrong?” If you believe that, the bridge across the East River is still for sale.

William Hamilton, a nationally syndicated columnist and featured commentator for USA Today, is the co-author of The Grand Conspiracy by William Penn – a novel about a terrorist attack on Colorado’s high country.

©2003. William Hamilton

Dr. Hamilton can be contacted at:

Email: william@central-view.com