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FAREWELL TO UNMOVIC. From the final report of UNMOVIC:
Despite some skepticism from many areas within the international community, in hindsight, it has now become clear that the UN inspection system in Iraq was indeed successful to a large degree, in fulfilling its disarmament and monitoring obligations. Crucial to the inspection system was the underlying backing of military, political, and economic pressure particularly from the permanent members of the Security Council. While it will be for others to judge the level success or shortcomings from the UN inspections regime in Iraq, it seems clear that without such international pressure, even limited success was not assured.Thirty years from now, wingnuts and their descendants are still going to be claiming that the Iraq War was justified because the inspections regime failed. The next Podhoretz, no doubt, will still claim that the weapons were moved to Syria before the invasion (and presumably from Syria before we invaded that country). But there's no substance; the inspections regime developed in the 1990s was marvelously successful in destroying the Iraq biological, chemical, and nuclear programs. More at Armchair Generalist and ArmsControlWonk.--Robert Farley
