>Hi Jim,
>
>Assume you have something to hide. Now assume police notify you that they are going to inspect your house in 3 days. You've managed to postpone it that long. Of course you are not going to move or touch anything in the meantime. :o) That's funny Jim. Granted, we now know that Saddam used the bluster of non-existent WMDs because it suited his purpose, but really, advance notice and any delays prior to inspections is just nuts.

Right. But we know that inspectors were watching their later targets before they told Saddam where they wanted to go next. There were stories of chases by white UN trucks when odd movments at future targets were observed.



>
>I've always thought that part of the reason the invasion went ahead when it did was due to the massive cost of keeping the troops and equipment staged prior to the invasion. Since they had the faulty impression that WMDs existed, a faulty impression that the invasion would be a short one, a faulty impression the people would rise up and welcome us and support us, and a faulty impression that it would cost less to move forward than to stage the troops much longer back then.