>I agree 100% that Iraq is NOT abiding by either the letter or spirit of the resolution 1441 and many prior ones.
>But I also see that Iraq's hands are well tied with the present situation and that the ever tightening noose is getting even more out of them.
>I think that is a good situation that IS working, only apparently too slowly for the U.S. and Britain. Much of the rest of the U.N. seems ready to allow slow but continued progress towards ultimate compliance.

All they are conceding are U2 flights and continued inspections because they are confident in their ability to continually hide WMD from the inspectors.

>Now it is the U.S., with modest British participation, that is footing the bill for all this pressure and I feel that this does and should give the U.S. extra leverage in 'guiding' the situation. After all, if fighting beyond mid-March puts its troops in extra jeopardy (and I believe that it does) then this NEEDS to be considered carefully by all parties, particularly of the U.N. Security Council.
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>I also believe that IF there is war, then the good guys will have no choice but to bomb the hell out of the towns and cities of Iraq before sending troops in. To jeopardize the troops by doing anything else would be unforgiveable. But this means that there will be high civilian casualties and we all know how that will be assessed throughout the world.
>So I see a no-win situation with war, especially so for the U.S. and Britain.

It is certainly no win if we do nothing and allow Iraq to eventually use there WMD against us or their neighbors. I choose to stop them dead in their tracks if necessary.

>It is a real bad situation. And we can also be sure that there will be calls - if there is war - to have the same muscle put behind other U.N. resolutions made prior and eternally kept alive by those parties most affected by them. What then... more war???

All it usually takes is a firm swift hand to avoid future conflicts. However, weakness and the lack of a will to punish will certainly lead to more conflict. Peace through strength brought down the Soviet Union. Unfortunately, that will not be an option with Iraq because economic collapse means nothing to Saddam.