December archives

December 17, 2002

TIMES POLL

Poll Analysis: Americans Are of Two Minds About War in Iraq

More than half of the American public believe George W. Bush is not getting a balanced view of whether to go to war or not from his advisors, but rather a more hawkish view favoring military action in Iraq, according to a new Los Angeles Times poll. They also believe Bush and his administration are dealing with the war on terrorism as a reaction to events, rather than from a clear, formulated policy. The American public are not in a rush to go to war and they are very clear in their opinions that they want hard, concrete evidence before supporting any military action.

December 15, 2002

New U.S. sanction list upsets Iraqis

Insisting that United Nations sanctions against Iraq still leave room for the regime of Saddam Hussein to import military material, the Bush administration is seeking to add dozens of items to the hundreds of goods that Iraq already is barred from bringing in without UN approval.

December 14, 2002

UN inspectors delayed at center

United Nations weapons inspectors carrying out searches on a Muslim holy day found some doors locked inside a health center Friday and for the first time used a hot line to Iraqi officials to resolve the delay.

December 11, 2002

UN widens scope of Iraq searches

United Nations weapons inspectors expanded their 2-week-old search Tuesday by more than doubling their teams and visiting the most Iraqi sites in one day, but the UN was moving far more slowly than the Bush administration desires.

December 9, 2002

Iraq calls for U.S. to bare evidence

A top adviser to Saddam Hussein challenged the United States on Sunday to reveal any evidence that Iraq still has weapons of mass destruction.

December 8, 2002

Iraq issues 12,000-page arms report

Iraq released its much-awaited inventory of potential nuclear, chemical and biological technologies to the United Nations on Saturday, hoping to prevent war as it again denied American claims that it possesses weapons of mass destruction.

December 8, 2002

`Dual-use' sites could bog down work

Basim Antoon remembers UN helicopters buzzing over his paint factory four years ago as international monitors searched for where Iraq might be producing or storing chemicals for use in weapons manufacturing.

December 6, 2002

Arms teams are welcome, Hussein says

President Saddam Hussein, in his first public comments since UN weapons inspectors returned to Iraq, encouraged his people in a holiday message Thursday to welcome the UN teams and declared that the inspections would show Iraq has no weapons of mass destruction.

December 5, 2002

UN rebuffs U.S. on Iraq site inspections

The Bush administration on Wednesday pressed the United Nations to intensify its weapons inspections in Iraq, but UN officials rebuffed the pressure and arms monitors in Baghdad said they were making progress.

December 4, 2002

Iraq vows to beat deadline

Seeking to blunt U.S. allegations that it is failing to comply with UN demands, Iraq announced Tuesday that it would deliver a day early an inventory of materials that could be used to develop biological, chemical and nuclear weapons.

December 3, 2002

UN enters 1st presidential palace

UN arms inspectors entered one of Saddam Hussein's presidential palaces Tuesday in the first major test of whether Iraq will comply with its promise to let the monitors go anywhere at any time.

December 3, 2002

A few surprises await UN team

UN weapons inspectors entered the gates of the Towers alcohol plant and two neighboring gin mills Monday and found potent wares: cases of workingman's booze.